The Tsarist Conspiracy
by Joe's girl
Summary: A church bombing leaves CTU and Homeland Security, along with their regional directors, Bill Buchanan and Karen Hayes, with few leads. Could a pair of Russian orphans be the key to this terrorist act? Bill/Karen, post season 5. Read & Review, please!
1. The Bombing

_This story is a sequel to "Past, Present and Future," and takes place about three years later. You don't need to read that story to understand this one, although it might help. "Past, Present and Future" takes place at the end of season 5. Season 6 never happens. Anything that you need to know from that story should be explained in the first chapter here. If you find that anything isn't clear, let me know so that I can clarify it. _

_So thanks for hitting on this post. I hope you enjoy the story. And please, please, please, if you read it, send me a review. _

**THE TSARIST CONSPIRACY **

Chapter 1: The Bombing

CTU Los Angeles

11:00 am

Bill Buchanan stepped quickly down the steps from his office and strode purposefully across the bullpen. He stared straight ahead, not seeing anything to the right or the left. The CTU staff that witnessed the display simply looked away and stifled laughs. Their director rarely lost his calm demeanor, but when he did, it was usually directed at one person. Bill ignored his employees as he passed by. He never took his eyes off of his destination: the workstation belonging to Chloe O'Brian.

"Chloe, what is the meaning of this?" he asked in a quiet but angry voice as he threw a bound report down onto her desk.

"It's the report assessing the terrorism risk at all of the California ports that you asked for, sir," Chloe answered as if it were a stupid question.

"No, Chloe, it is not the _report_ that I asked for. It is the _information_ that I asked for. The _report_ that I asked for was to be formatted and sorted very specifically. That format was decided by the Governor of the state of California, not by me. In case you've forgotten, I'm going to be on a flight to Sacramento in four hours to deliver this report personally to the Governor and discuss its implications. I can't hand him this report. It isn't what he asked for!"

"The report contains all of the necessary information; it's just formatted in a more logical fashion."

"More logical to you maybe, but not to the Governor and it's his opinion that counts right now!" Bill roared. He rarely got flustered but Chloe had pushed him to the edge. "Chloe, I could fire you on the spot. This time you've gone too far. This is insubordination. You have intentionally chosen to ignore instructions given to you by a superior. I don't normally pull rank, but in this case I'm not going to have a choice. Off load whatever work you are doing right now to Morris' system and correct this report immediately. I need it on my desk in three hours. Don't even think about taking a lunch break or a bathroom break until this report is complete. If you so much as stand up to stretch, I'll fire you! And if any of you," he said looking around the bullpen, "tries to talk to her, I'll fire you as well! Do I make myself clear?"

A mumbled chorus of "yes, sir" came from Chloe's coworkers.

"Do I make myself clear, Chloe?"

"Yes, sir," she answered, lip in full pout.

Bill's phone rang just as he turned to go. "Buchanan," he barked into the phone.

"Mr. Buchanan, I have Commissioner Bauer's office on the line. He says that it's urgent."

Bill stopped in his tracks. Jack frequently called to discuss security issues or even to set up a golf game, but his calls were rarely urgent. Jack had been named Los Angeles Police Commissioner about two years earlier. It was several months after the assassination of David Palmer when Jack returned to Los Angeles and reclaimed his identity. He had been seriously injured when the Chinese kidnapped him and attempted to take him out of the country. Quick work on the part of CTU and Homeland had thwarted the kidnapping, but not before Jack was brutally beaten by his Chinese captors as they tried desperately to gain information from him. When Curtis' team found him, behind a boiler room in the lowest level of the ship, he was nearly dead. Hours of surgery and months of rehabilitation followed, but in the end, Jack recovered. His story, although kept out of the press due to security issues, was well known in the law enforcement community. When the police commissioner retired, Jack's name quickly came to the top of a short list of candidates.

"Should I put the Commissioner's call in your office, sir?" Bill's secretary asked.

"No, I'm closer to the situation room. Put it in there. Ask Nadia to meet me there," he instructed her before hanging up. "Curtis, Milo," he called. "Jack's on the phone. He says it's urgent."

Curtis and Milo both stopped what they were doing as did anyone else who heard Bill's statement. "Get back to work, Chloe!" he snapped when he caught her looking up.

"Sir, with all due respect, as the Senior Analyst I should be in on any urgent meetings with the police commissioner," she pointed out.

"Insubordination, Chloe!" Bill thundered. "One more time and you're out of here and I'll have an entire room full of people as witnesses. I decide who sits in on briefings, not you! Right now you are busy. If I decide that this matter takes precedence over _a report for the Governor_, I'll let you know! "

Bill turned on heel and headed for the situation room. Curtis and Milo were several steps ahead of him. Nadia met them at the door.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"I don't know, but Jack says it's urgent. He's not usually an alarmist so I thought I better get my core team in here for a briefing." Bill pushed the button on the phone. "Jack, you're on speaker. Curtis, Nadia and Milo are with me. What's going on?"

"Bill, this may be a little premature, but I just got a report of something that doesn't feel right. About an hour ago, the fire department responded to a fire call at St. Basil's Russian Orthodox Church. The caller described an explosion and a fire. The battalion chief told me that it's an old structure and he expected that they had some kind of boiler explosion or an electrical short that resulted in a fire and minor explosion. That wasn't at all what they found. The explosion came from under pews in the front of the sanctuary. It was small but intense and a fire investigator at the scene thought that it had all of the earmarks of plastic explosives."

"Plastic explosives?" Bill questioned.

"Yeah, and I tend to trust this guy. I've worked with him before. He's got military experience. He knows what plastic explosives can do."

"So what you're saying is that the church was targeted," Nadia clarified.

"That's what it looks like," Jack answered.

"But apparently they only wanted to make a statement. Otherwise they would have hit the church during a Sunday service when it was full of worshipers."

"That's the thing, Bill. Today is a feast day for the church's patron saint. Church members usually take the day off for this feast. Local merchants even close their stores. The church was packed. Right now, we've got six confirmed dead, several more on their way to various hospitals and scores of minor injuries. Someone wanted to inflict maximal damage."

"How do you want to work this, Jack?" Bill asked since the bombing crossed multiple jurisdictions.

"Bill, the way I see it, until we can prove otherwise, we have to treat this as an act of terrorism. This is your area of expertise. I'll provide all of the support you need, but I think CTU should take the lead in the investigation."

"Fine. Keep your people on site. I'll send Curtis with a team now to coordinate with them. Maintain the perimeter until we can get there. Don't let anybody in or out. Can you run interference with the fire commissioner? I suspect that he wants his people in charge of the investigation. We'll work with them, but I need full cooperation of the local agencies."

"I'm on my way to a press briefing, but I'll call him before and let him know. I guess we also need to put Homeland in the loop. I'll leave it to you to call Karen."

"I'll take care of that. Keep me abreast of any new information," Bill requested.

"Will do," Jack said succinctly.

Conversation complete, Bill turned to his team. "Curtis, coordinate the investigation at the scene."

"Got it," Curtis answered. He turned and, wasting no time, was immediately on the phone to his "go" team.

Bill continued. "Milo, I need you to talk to LAPD and get all of the information that they've already collected and upload it to our system and then process it for clues. Nadia, start looking at the church – members, former members, contributors – anybody who might have an ax to grind. Coordinate with Milo."

"I'll get Chloe to help," Nadia said as she and Milo turned to go.

"Get Morris; Chloe's working on the report for the Governor. I can't spare her right now."

"Doesn't this take priority, sir?" Nadia asked.

Bill shook his head. "I need that report for this afternoon. After that Chloe's all yours." Signaling that the conversation had ended, Bill took out his phone and dialed his wife's number.

Bill and Karen had been married for a little less than three years. Their romance that followed the last big terrorist attack surprised everyone who knew either of them. Karen was just getting over a bitter divorce and had sworn off men forever when she met Bill. And he had spent the previous twelve years generally too consumed with being a single father to worry about having any woman other than his daughter, Elise, in his life. Karen came into CTU to replace him and ended up working side by side with him to avert a nuclear attack, bring down a treasonous President Logan and rescue Jack Bauer from the Chinese. By the end of the day, they had forged a strong friendship that, within weeks, turned into love.

Their relationship was further sealed when Bill's daughter bonded into a tight mother-daughter relationship with Karen that was stronger than that between many biological mothers and their children. The bond was so intense that when Bill and Karen got married, Elise asked Karen to legally adopt her. Bill would never forget the day in the courtroom when the adoption was finalized. Elise and Karen hugged each other and Elise called Karen "mom" for the first time. Karen cried the same way she had when her own children, now grown and on their own, had first uttered "mama" when they where just babies.

"Karen Hayes," she said when she answered on the second ring. Her distracted tone told him that she was in the middle of something when he called.

"Hey, are you busy?"

"A little bit. What's up?" she returned.

Bill could hear the smile in her voice. Despite his anger with Chloe and his concern over a church bombing, he felt himself smile as well. He knew they were both remembering the sweet start to their day – making love quietly at 5 o'clock in the morning. They frequently started their Monday morning that way before the responsibilities and the stress of the week took over.

"Nothing good. I just wanted to give you a heads up. There was a bombing at a Russian Orthodox Church this morning during a church festival. Six people dead, more injured. We're working it up as an act of terrorism."

"Domestic or international?" Karen asked.

He could tell that he had gotten her attention. "No idea at this point. I've got people on their way to the scene. LAPD and the fire department are already there investigating. Could just be a disgruntled former church member or something like that, but, until we can prove it, we need to consider that the church was targeted by some outside group and they might not be finished."

Karen sighed. "You're right. For now, treat it like an act of terrorism. I'll raise the threat assessment from yellow to orange. What about your trip to Sacramento this afternoon? You should probably cancel that unless we can prove that this was an isolated incident before it's time for you to fly up there."

"I was hoping to avoid that, but you're probably right. I'll call the Governor's appointment secretary and let him know."

"Good. If you need any help over there, call me. I can send some people over from here."

"Thanks, I'll let you know if I need help," Bill told her.

"Keep me in the loop," Karen reminded him.

"I will. I'll call as soon as we have anything."

Bill ended the conversation with his wife and was immediately on the phone to the Governor's office. He was just finishing the conversation when Milo knocked on his door. Bill signaled for him to enter.

"What have you got?" he asked as he hung up the phone.

"LAPD has interviewed a lot of eyewitnesses. We're trying to coordinate all of the information right now. One thing I thought you should know. I don't know if it's important or not. This church has a stewardship program set up with an orphanage associated with a poor church in Ekaterinburg, Russia. Several church members made arrangements to adopt children from the orphanage. The children were scheduled to arrive here around 10 o'clock this morning. The bomb went off just a little before that. The van with the children and their chaperones arrived at the church about the same time as the fire department."

Bill frowned. "So, the children weren't the target."

"It doesn't look that way. It looks like someone disapproved of the adoptions and wanted to prevent them. In fact, among the dead is a couple who was to adopt two of the children. The fire investigators think that the bomb was right under their pew."

"Were there specific seating arrangements?"

Milo nodded and showed Bill the schematic of the church. "Seats were assigned to each of the six couples who were adopting. There are four rows of pews that run from the front of the church to the back. Four sets of the adoptive parents were each sitting in one of the front pews. The other two couples were sitting in the second pew on either side of the center aisle. The couple that was killed was sitting here," Milo pointed to the front pew on the far right side of the church.

"Who knew about the seating arrangements?"

"Everybody. It wasn't a secret. According to some of the church members, the couple who was killed was really excited about where they were seated because the children were scheduled to enter the building through a side entrance right in front of their pew and they would be right there when their new son and daughter entered the church."

"And instead they ended up dead." Bill shook his head and closed his eyes for a second. "Have Chloe start looking into this couple. See if there is someone out there with a reason to want them dead. We need to know if this was a vendetta against them or they just happened to be the unlucky people sitting in that pew."

"Nadia and Morris have already started looking at them. I thought that Chloe was working on your report for the Governor," Milo said.

"I postponed the meeting. I need to be here and we need Chloe working on this bombing. Tell her she has a reprieve for now, but as soon as we wrap this thing up she goes back to the Governor's report."

"Got it," Milo answered as he turned to leave Bill's office.

Bill sat back for a moment trying to make some sense of the bombing. He was mentally reviewing the information that Milo had given him when his intercom buzzed.

"Yes," he said hoping that someone was calling him with a lead.

"Mr. Buchanan," Nadia said. "Has Milo filled you in on the new information?"

"Yes, he just left. Any leads?"

"Nothing, but Curtis is sending over about a dozen people to give statements. I've got a lot of people trying to process all of the information that's coming in. Can you help us with the debriefings?"

"Sure, I'll be right down. "Do we need additional help? I can get a couple of people from Homeland."

"That would help. We're stretched pretty thin here," Nadia said sounding relieved.

"Okay, let me call Karen and then I'll be right down." Bill dialed Karen's number as he headed out of his office. "Hey," he said as she answered. "Is that offer of help still good?"

"Of course. What do you need?"

"Just a couple of people to debrief eyewitnesses."

"Any suspects?"

"None, but from what I understand, everyone from the church is being cooperative and wants to help us find the bomber. They all want to talk and I want to get them debriefed quickly while the scene is still fresh in their minds."

"I'll send a couple of people over. They'll be there in a half hour."

"Great. Thanks. Talk to you later." Bill continued across the bullpen to the conference rooms that were being set up.

Curtis came in with the first group of witnesses including an elderly priest, Father Gregory. A second priest was critically injured in the explosion and Father Gregory was obviously badly shaken. His cassock was torn and blood stained. The side of his face was bruised and his glasses were bent, but he stood tall and extended a large hand to shake when he was introduced to Bill. Bill detected a bit of a Russian accent but other than that the priest spoke English like a native. He followed Bill into a conference room and recounted the events of the day with Bill interrupting occasionally to clarify points.

The debriefing lasted over an hour and when Bill finally emerged from the room, he was surprised to run into Karen in the hallway. Despite the gravity of his work, he couldn't help but smile when he saw his wife.

"What are you doing here?" he asked. He wanted to lean over and give her a quick kiss, but a blinking security camera a few feet down the hall told him that his kiss would be seen by half of the security guards in the building.

"I have several people in Washington attending a conference, so we didn't have a lot of people to spare. It was easier to come over here myself and help than to shuffle work around and send someone else. Besides," she said with a shy smile. "I kind of like it here. Did you get any information from the priest?" she asked returning to her work mode.

"Nothing. He doesn't have any idea who would want to do something like this. He's convinced that it isn't someone with ties to his church."

"I just finished debriefing the president of the church council. He feels the same way. He says that to his knowledge there has never been a significant threat leveled against St. Basil's. I just talked to Nadia. She said that at this time, no group is claiming responsibility for the bombing. I've worked in counterterrorism for the last fifteen years and this doesn't feel like any case I've ever worked on."

"I know," Bill agreed. "I'm at a loss."

"Mr. Buchanan, excuse me, sir. Could I talk to you for a moment?" It was Father Gregory who was leaving the conference room after signing the transcript of his debriefing.

"Yes, of course, Father," Bill said deferentially. He looked at Karen. "Father, this is Karen Hayes. Karen is the Los Angeles Division Director for Homeland Security."

"Ms. Hayes," the priest nodded as he shook her hand. Then he turned back to Bill. "Mr. Buchanan, I have a concern that I hoped you could address before I go back to my church. The two children that were to be adopted by Peter and Marina Golov, the couple that was killed this morning, were brought here by your people for security purposes. I don't believe that the children are in any danger. If you agree, I'd like to have them released to my custody. I can have them live with some of our church members until we can find someone to adopt them."

"I'll talk to Social Services for you, Father," Bill said. "But it's not in my jurisdiction to release the children to anyone. That's the responsibility of Social Services. Come with me. I'll see what I can do." Bill led Father Gregory and Karen to the room where the children were waiting.

Nikolai and Anya Borodin sat quietly on a sofa next to the Russian chaperone who had accompanied them from the orphanage half-way around the world. Nikolai was eight. He was a little small for his age by American standards with deep blue, wide-set Slavic eyes and straight blond hair that had been freshly cut for his journey to his new home and family. Anya was five. She too had bright blue eyes and blond hair. Her long hair curled softly at the ends and framed a beautiful face.

Bill, Karen and Father Gregory entered the room. The children looked up as did the chaperone and a middle aged social worker who had already been assigned to the children's case by the city. Nikolai was obviously wary of the new adults on the scene and moved closer to Anya as if to let everyone know that he would protect his younger sister despite his young age.

Bill took a second to make sure all of the adults were introduced before dropping to one knee in front of the children. He had read Nikolai's body language and stayed a safe distance in order not to appear frightening to the children. He introduced himself to them in halting Russian, a product of his early days in the CIA when he had been stationed in Moscow. Nikolai remained unconvinced of this adult's intentions but reached out his hand to politely shake as he had been taught. Anya on the other hand, was immediately taken by the tall American who was speaking Russian. She smiled and reached out her hand as her brother had done and seemed pleased when Bill took it and squeezed it gently. After a brief conversation with the children Bill stood and turned to the adults.

"You speak Russian, Mr. Buchanan," Father Gregory commented, the surprise evident in his voice.

"Not very well, I'm afraid," Bill returned. "But I think the children and I understand each other." Bill turned to the social worker. "Ms. Hill, I agree with Father Gregory. I don't think we need to hold the children here at CTU any longer. They're safe. I think it's reasonable to release them to Father Gregory's custody."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Buchanan, but that's impossible," the dour-faced Christine Hill answered. "When the adoptions were arranged, the couples from the church that wished to adopt were evaluated for appropriateness and cleared by Social Services. I can't put these children in the care of anyone who hasn't been evaluated by Social Services."

"You understand, Ms. Hill, that this is just a temporary solution. Father Gregory will look for a family to permanently adopt Anya and Nikolai, but in the meantime, it would be best for them to live in the home of one of the Russian families from the church."

"That would constitute a foster family situation, Mr. Buchanan, and I don't have any families from the church on our list of approved foster families."

"How long will it take you to approve a family from the church?" Karen asked.

"That would take several weeks. This is a complicated process." Ms. Hill answered abruptly. "We can't take chances with the well being of children."

"What will happen to them in the meantime?" Karen asked.

"We'll place them with a family that has already been cleared by Social Services."

"And do you have such a family that speaks Russian?" Karen asked.

"I'll have to look into that," Ms. Hill said dismissively. "If you don't need to hold the children any longer, Mr. Buchanan, I'll have them taken to our office downtown."

Karen and Bill exchanged glances. "Ms. Hill, I'm not sure I like this plan," he told her honestly.

"You don't have to like it, Mr. Buchanan. This isn't under your control. The children are currently wards of the State."

"That may be the case, but this building is Federal property and while they are here, they are in Federal custody and that _is_ my jurisdiction." Bill didn't feel like playing hardball with the social worker, but her flip attitude toward these children bothered him. "Let's keep the children here while your office looks for a Russian speaking family to take care of the children until you can clear a family from St. Basil's," he suggested.

Ms. Hill didn't seem happy with Bill's solution, but realized that he outranked her in a Federal building and that she had little choice. "Fine. I'll go back to my office and see what I can do."

"Very good," Bill answered. "I'll look forward to hearing from you."

Everyone watched as Ms. Hill left, the heels on her sensible pumps clicking on the floor.

"Thank you, Mr. Buchanan," Father Gregory said. "Nikolai and Anya don't speak much English. They have already gone through enough today. I don't want them in a house where no one can talk to them." The old man shook his head. "Their parents were killed in a car accident a year and a half ago. They finally got a chance at a normal life with parents who would love them and care for them and that was taken away from them. Sometimes I don't understand the God that I worship; that He would allow this to happen to two innocent children." The priest sat heavily in a nearby chair and put his head in his hands. He looked defeated.

"Father," Bill said quietly. "I can't do anything about the priest and the parishioners that you lost today, other than to find their killer. And believe me when I tell you that my department will do everything humanly possible to find that person. What I can do right now, is make sure that the welfare of Nikolai and Anya is given the highest priority. I promise that I won't let you down. You're welcome to stay here with the children as long as you like. " The elderly man thanked Bill graciously and stayed behind as Bill and Karen left the room.

As soon as they stepped into the empty hallway, Karen reached for Bill's hand. "I love you and I don't care who's watching," she said as she leaned into him and kissed him hard.

"Wow!" Bill exclaimed softly. "What was that for?"

"For being such a decent human being. I was so proud of you for sticking up for those kids. They look so scared and so lost and that social worker doesn't give a damn. She just wants to follow the rules. All I could think of was my own kids at that age and how much I would have wanted someone to stand up for them the way you did."

Bill sighed. "I did what I could at the moment, but if Ms. Hill comes back here with a court order to take those kids out of this building, I don't have a leg to stand on, Karen. You know that as well as I do."

"Let's worry about that if it happens. We have a few favors that we can call in, if need be. In the meantime, I'm going to make sure that Nikolai and Anya get some lunch and something to play with."

"Now who's being the decent human being?" Bill asked playfully.

"It's the mom in me rising to the surface," she said smiling in return.

The afternoon continued on with more church members and eyewitnesses being debriefed but CTU found itself no closer to identifying the bomber than they were when the bomb exploded. Bill paged through endless reports filed by his staff, calling several of them to ask them to do more follow up on one aspect of the case or another. At a few minutes after four, Bill's phone rang, just like it did every day. He glanced at the caller ID just to make sure before answering it.

"Hi, sweetheart," he said warmly. "How was your day?"

"Hi, Dad," fifteen-year-old Elise Buchanan answered. "I bet my day was better than yours. Are you investigating the church bombing?"

Bill smiled as soon as he heard his daughter's voice. "How did you guess?" he asked sarcastically.

"Oh, just a hunch," Elise returned. "Will you be home late?"

"I'm afraid so."

"How about Mom? Is she working on the bombing, too?"

"She came over to help us. I should be able to free her up in a little while so she can come home and have dinner with you."

"Don't worry about it. I have a ton of homework. We have midterms next week."

"Okay, you start studying then and I'll keep in touch so you know when to expect us."

"Alright. Talk to you later. I love you, Dad. Tell Mom I love her, too."

"I love you and so does your mother. Talk to you soon." Bill hung up the phone just as the intercom buzzed.

"Mr. Buchanan, Elaine Henry, the Director of Social Services, is here to see you. I have her and Christine Hill at the reception area," the receptionist reported.

"Have them stay there. I'll be there in a minute."

Bill straightened his tie and heaved a long sigh as he left his office. The fact that Christine Hill had brought her boss with her meant that they were ready to fight. He trotted down the steps with an air of confidence that he wished he actually felt.

Bill met Christine Hill and Elaine Henry at the reception area. Christine's cool expression told him that she fully planned to dig in her heels while Elaine Henry struck him as someone who would be more conciliatory. He decided to focus on her.

"Come this way," he directed them as he held the door. "We have the children in a waiting room." Bill was clearly directing his comments to Elaine. "They were hungry so we got them some lunch."

They entered the room where the children were staying. Bill smiled as he opened the door. Anya was sitting in Karen's lap and Nikolai was sitting next to them. The three of them leaned across a table where a jigsaw puzzle was spread out. Father Gregory sat across from them watching the scene and translating when necessary.

Anya jumped from Karen's lap as soon as she saw Bill. She ran to him and took his hand speaking in rapid-fire Russian.

"Slow down," Bill told her first in English and then in Russian. "My Russian is not so good," he explained again in both English and Russian.

He knelt down and gave the little girl time to tell him that Karen had brought them pizza, a treat they had never had before, and a puzzle to play with. She then ran back to Karen and plopped on her lap.

"It looks like you've made some friends," Bill said with a smile before introducing Karen as the Division Director of Homeland Security.

"Nice to see that the security of the homeland is in such capable hands," Christine Hill said sarcastically.

"I have a capable staff back at my office, Ms. Hill," Karen said coolly.

"So," Bill started, trying to cut the tension that had suddenly appeared in the room. "Have you found a family that would be suitable for Anya and Nikolai to live with temporarily?"

"We have, Mr. Buchanan," Ms. Hill nodded.

"And they speak Russian?" Karen asked.

"Unfortunately, Ms. Hayes, they don't. However they do speak German." Christine said with a satisfied smirk.

"I'm not sure that's good enough," Bill said shaking his head. "I speak both German and Russian, Ms. Hill, and believe me, the two languages are not interchangeable."

"Mr. Buchanan," Elaine Henry broke in. "We are well aware that this is not an optimal situation, but it's the best we can do on short notice. If you have a couple from the church that wants to be cleared as foster parents, I'll assure you that we will expedite the process, but I can't put these children in the hands of people who haven't been properly vetted. We'd like to get these children out of here and into a home before it gets too late. So, if you'd just agree to release them to my department, we can get them settled in before it's time for them to go to bed."

"Bill," Karen exclaimed as she shook her head. She lifted Anya from her lap and stood up in order to join Bill and the women from Social Services a few steps away. "You can't agree to this! This is insane. Nikolai and Anya only know a few words of English. They'll be terrified if you put them in a home where no one can communicate with them." Anya didn't understand the words, but she tuned in to Karen's emotions and fearfully clung to her skirt and began to cry. Karen stroked her hair to comfort her.

"I agree," Bill said. "This isn't acceptable, Ms. Henry. There has to be a better solution. I'll refuse to release the children to your department until you come up with something better."

"And we'll get a court order, Mr. Buchanan," Christine Hill retorted.

"Wait a minute," Karen said. "I might have an idea. Bill speaks Russian well enough to communicate with the children. Why can't we just take the children home with us?" Bill shot Karen a surprised look.

"Us?" Christine said incredulously. "You two live together?"

"Actually, we're married," Karen told her as she pointed to their matching wedding rings.

"Well, that adds new meaning to the term 'power couple,' doesn't it?" Christine said with an air of distaste.

Karen and Bill both ignored the statement. It wasn't worth dignifying it with a response.

"I hadn't really thought of it," Bill said as he quickly regained his composure. "But it is a good solution. Karen and I have every security clearance possible. Could you just make us temporary foster parents in this situation and we could keep the children for a few days until a more suitable situation can be established?"

"You may have clearance with regards to national security, Mr. Buchanan, but you don't have clearance with regards to children. I'm sorry."

Karen shook her head. "You're wrong. Three years ago when Bill and I got married, I adopted his daughter, Elise. I had to be cleared through Social Services. Those records should still be on file."

"They're three years old. We can't use three year old records to approve you as a foster parent!" Christine said shaking her head.

"What do you think has changed in the last three years, Ms. Hill?" Karen asked angrily. "Do you think that I went from fit parent to child abuser? I have three adult children of my own who you can feel free to call if you'd like a recommendation."

"She's right, Ms. Hill. If you need to update your files and would like to talk to our daughter, we can arrange that."

"Elaine, it's getting late. We need to call a judge and get a court order to get these kids out of this building," Christine said as a means of brushing off the idea that was presented to her.

Elaine Henry didn't answer. She stood watching Bill and Karen. They stood close presenting a united front. "Do you really think you can handle this?" she asked. "Taking care of two small children who have a lot of emotional needs right now isn't going to be easy. You both have stressful jobs and another child at home. Do you really think this is a good idea?"

"At the moment, Ms. Henry, I can't think of a better one," Bill said mildly. He hoped that his confident manner masked his concerns. He knew that Karen was reacting to the emotion of the moment. Part of him loved the fact that she cared so much and he wanted to support her. The other part of him was worried about the amount of stress that two children would add to the household. "You're right, this is probably a stressor that neither Karen nor I needs right now, but what is more important is what Anya and Nikolai need. They need a family that understands them. I can at least talk to them."

"What happens when you two are at work?" Elaine asked.

Father Gregory spoke up. "The children were to be enrolled in the church school. They were supposed to start school tomorrow anyway. In school they can start learning English but they'll be around people that speak Russian as well. We have an after school daycare program. The children can stay there until Mr. Buchanan and Ms. Hayes can pick them up after work."

"That would work perfectly!" Karen agreed. "I pass within two blocks of the church on my way to work. I can take them in the morning and pick them up on my way home. It's going to be a little stressful for all of us, but we can make it work for a few days."

"It may be more that a few days, Ms. Hayes," Elaine explained. "It could be few weeks to a month before we find a suitable home for the children."

"I understand that. We'll deal with whatever happens. Look, both Bill and I have faced adversity in the past. I raised three children while their father and I both worked full time and he was away from home three or four days every week for his job. Bill was a single father for twelve years. We know that raising children isn't easy."

Christine interrupted. "But it's a moot point since your Social Service clearance has expired; it's too old to satisfy our requirements."

Elaine shrugged her shoulders lightly. "In light of the circumstances, I'm willing to bend the rules. I don't have a better solution and you two have convinced me that this makes a lot more sense than anything else that my department has been able to come up with. Take the children home with you tonight and in the morning, Ms. Hayes, I'll review your previous Social Service clearance and update it. I will have to talk to several references and it would help if you could provide those this evening. Mr. Buchanan," she said turning to Bill. "I'll fax all of the necessary paperwork to you tomorrow so that we can evaluate and approve you as a foster parent as well. We'll expedite the paperwork, but you'll have to understand that if we find anything out of order, the children will be removed from your home."

"We understand," Bill nodded. "Thank you. Ms. Henry, for being so reasonable," he said as he shook her hand.

Karen thanked her and shook hands with her as well while Christine Hill glared at the three of them before she shook her head and left the room obviously displeased with the outcome.

Bill looked at Father Gregory. "Father, we'd appreciate it if you could explain all of that to the children so that they know what's going on. Karen and I have to take care of a few things before we can leave, but we should be ready to go soon." The priest happily agreed. He, too, was well pleased with the outcome.

Bill and Karen left the room and headed for Bill's office. Neither said a word until the door closed behind them. Karen turned to Bill looking more timid than he was used to. "Bill, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have made that decision without discussing it with you first. I just couldn't stand there and let them turn those precious kids over to people who couldn't even communicate with them." Tears filled her eyes as she spoke. "I just couldn't do it. They've been through too much."

Bill wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. "You did the right thing. I would have liked to discuss it before you volunteered us to be parents, but as soon as you said it, I knew it was the right thing to do."

"How do you think Elise is going to react? She's always had our undivided attention. Do you think this will upset her?"

Bill shook his head. "Not at all. I think she'll like it."

"What makes you think that?"

Bill smiled and released his hold on Karen. "When we got engaged, Elise asked me if we were going to have more children. I immediately thought that she was concerned that she would have to share us with other children. So I assured her that we had no intention of having a baby and that we were a little old to be starting a new family. Instead of being relieved, she was disappointed. She said that she wanted to be a big sister. She sulked for the rest of the evening."

"You never told me that."

"I guess it just never occurred to me. It didn't seem important," Bill said with a shrug. "So, I think she'll be fine with this arrangement. And it's only for a few weeks, then everything goes back to normal. I'll call her first and warn her while you get the kids ready to go, then we'll head home."

Karen stepped closer to Bill and put her arms around his waist. She stood on her toes and kissed his cheek. "I love you so much. Any other husband would want to shoot me right now and you're taking it all in stride. How did I get so lucky?"

"I ask myself the same question all the time," Bill said in return. "I love you, too. Let's go home."


	2. The Conspiracy

Chapter 2: The Conspiracy

_Hi and thanks for the reviews! _

_I forgot to add a disclaimer to Chapter 1, so here it is: Any publically recognizable character is the property of Fox. All others are the product of my imagination._

_Now on with the story…_

Chapter 2: The Conspiracy

It wasn't necessarily easy, but by the end of the first week, the Buchanans settled into to a regular routine. Mornings were hectic as Bill, Karen, Elise and their two new charges vied for bathroom time while getting ready for work and school. The first morning was the worst, but they quickly adjusted schedules and soon mornings were running more smoothly. As always, Bill took Elise to school on his way to work. Karen picked up the added responsibility of taking Anya and Nikolai to the Russian school before her work day started. The end of the day was much calmer. Elise got home first and got dinner started. Bill came home next and put on the finishing touches. Finally, Karen would arrive with Anya and Nikolai. Once everyone was home they ate dinner together, reviewed homework and got ready for bed.

Nikolai and Anya seemed to fall into the routine easily. Anya followed Elise around like an adored big sister, a role that Elise enjoyed even if she felt the need to complain about her new companion at times. Karen smiled every time she saw Elise reading to Anya knowing that she loved being the big sister and that her complaints were more about being a teenager than being annoyed by a little girl. Before bedtime Elise read stories to Anya taking care to point to every picture on the page and giving Anya the English word for it. Anya repeated each word dutifully. She was picking the language up slowly while Nikolai was excelling at it.

Nikolai, who had been wary of the situation and his new foster parents in the beginning, began to bond with Bill. The little boy loved chess which had been a popular diversion for the children at the orphanage. Bill, who could never seem to get Elise interested in the game, was happy to have such an eager opponent. Bill also found himself frequently in the back yard kicking a soccer ball or playing catch with a baseball. Despite his own early reservations, Bill was finding their temporary experiment in parenthood more fun than he would have expected. There were moments that he missed the relative quiet that was his home prior to the children's arrival, but as he kissed them good night every evening, he was happy with the way things had turned out.

"Bill, I'm running late," Karen called down the stairs one morning. "Can you make sure that Nicky and Annie get breakfast before you take Elise to school?"

"I'll take care of it," he returned as he checked his watch noting that he didn't have much extra time this morning either.

"Thanks. I'll be down as soon as I can," Karen called as she ran back into the bedroom to get dressed.

"Okay, you two," Bill said as he lifted Anya up onto the stool by the breakfast bar. "What do you want for breakfast?"

It didn't take him long to get the two children set up with glasses of milk and toasted English muffins covered in strawberry jam. By the time the muffins were out of the toaster, Elise had run into the kitchen with her backpack slung over one shoulder.

"Dad, we're going to be late. I have a student government meeting before school this morning. Did you forget?"

"No, I didn't forget. I've been ready for fifteen minutes. I was helping Nik and Annie with breakfast while you were still upstairs getting dressed. Have you eaten any breakfast?" Bill asked in his most fatherly tone.

Elise grabbed a banana from the counter. "I'll eat it on the way to school," the fifteen year old said with a roll of her eyes. "Come on! I'm going to be late." She crossed the kitchen and planted a quick kiss on the tops of Anya's and Nikolai's heads. "Have a good day at school, guys. See you when you get home." Then leaning from the kitchen toward the stairs she called to Karen. "Bye, Mom. See you tonight."

Karen was in the process of running down the stairs. "Did you eat any breakfast?" she asked as she slipped a pearl earring into her pierced earlobe.

"You two really do communicate on some weird level, don't you?" Elise asked as she kissed Karen's cheek. "I love you. I'll see you when I get home."

Bill and Karen smiled at each other and kissed goodbye. Karen held the door while Bill and Elise left the house and got into Bill's SUV. She continued to watch for a moment as he backed out of the driveway and drove down the quiet street. Then, closing the door, she returned to the kitchen.

Nikolai and Anya were just finishing their breakfast. Karen marveled once again at how the two had adapted to their new life. Just adapting to life in the same house as an American teenager was an accomplishment, but they had done it while learning the language and missing their friends from the orphanage in Russia and getting into the routine of their new school. She hated the thought that they would have to adapt once again to a new foster family when one was found. That reminded Karen, she needed to call Father Gregory to see how the search for an acceptable foster family was going. There were no interested couples in his church, so he was in discussion with several other Russian Orthodox churches in and around LA to find a good home for the children. Karen balked at first when the priest suggested that the children might have to be moved as far away as San Francisco. She wanted to be able to see them regularly, but she also understood that it was important for them to live in a Russian speaking home. Their basic English was improving but it would be a while before they really started speaking the language well and that led to some frustration on both the part of the children and on Karen's part.

"Okay," Karen said surveying the empty plates in front of the children. "Go wash your hands," she said spying jam on Anya's fingers. "And get your backpacks. It's time for school."

"Okay, Mom," Anya answered. Although Nikolai called Bill and Karen by their first names, Anya followed Elise's lead and called them Mom and Dad.

They ran to the bathroom to wash their hands and then to their rooms for backpacks. Within minutes they came back to the kitchen.

"Ready?" Karen asked rhetorically as she pulled on her suit jacket and picked up her bag.

The three headed out the door. Karen secured and locked it as the children went to the car. Karen unlocked the doors of the Lexus sedan with the remote control and watched as Nikolai climbed across the back seat and began to buckle himself in. Anya still required some help. Too small to sit on the seat itself, she required a booster seat. Once in it, Karen helped her with the seatbelt and pulled it snug.

"Now we're ready to roll," Karen told the youngsters as she closed the car door and started to walk around the rear of the car to the driver's side.

"I don't think so Ms. Hayes," said a male voice from behind her.

It was then that she felt it. The unmistakable feel of a gun barrel pressed into her back. She had felt it only once before and would never forget it. She had been a young FBI agent and due to her own poor planning, had been taken by surprise by the suspect she was trying to apprehend. The agility of youth and her good training saved her. She was able to surprise her assailant by turning quickly, forcing him to the ground and firing the weapon that she was holding. Almost thirty years later, she was at a distinct disadvantage having not practiced any hand-to-hand combat in years. Worse yet, she wasn't armed.

She put her hands on the side of the car in a gesture of defeat. "Please don't hurt the children," she said softly. "Tell me what you want."

"The children are in no danger, Ms. Hayes," the man told her. Karen instantly recognized his accent as Russian. "I have every intention of protecting them and keeping them safe. You are another story. Your life means nothing to me. I prefer not to kill you just because that creates other problems. If you behave yourself and do as you're told, I'll make sure that you get home to your husband. It may not be for a few days, but you'll get back to him."

The man paused for a moment. Karen took a quick look around the neighborhood hoping to find a way out or to attract the attention of a neighbor. The secluded street was great for privacy. The houses were set back away from the road and most had trees in the front lawn thus obscuring the view from the house to the street. She continued to scan the street and took note of a dark sedan idling at the top of the street.

The man with the gun must have sensed that Karen was looking for a means of escape. "Don't bother, Ms. Hayes. If you think you can disarm me and get away, you're wrong. One of the men in the car has a sniper's rifle aimed at your chest. I told you, I don't want to kill you, but I will if I have to. He, on the other hand, would prefer to kill you. He feels that keeping you alive is making this operation unnecessarily complicated. So any wrong move, and he will pull the trigger. Now, slowly walk around the car and get into the driver's side."

With no other option, Karen rounded the car slowly.

"That's far enough," the man said as she reached for the door handle. "Give me the keys."

"They're in my bag," Karen said angling her head toward her left shoulder where the bag hung.

The man pulled the bag from her shoulder and found the keys. "Thank you," he said in mock politeness. "Now get in the car and close the door."

Again, Karen saw no way out and did as she was told.

Nikolai knew that something was amiss. "Karen, who is that man?" he asked.

"It's going to be alright, Nicky. Just stay quiet. You, too, Annie. Stay quiet, honey." Karen tried to sound confident, but she could hear her voice waver. She wondered if the children heard it as well. She watched as the man walked around the front end of the car and headed for the passenger side. While he walked, he again rummaged through her bag. This time he pulled out her cell phone.

The Russian man got into the passenger seat, reviewed the contact list in the phone and chose a number. He handed Karen the cell phone. "You're calling the school. Tell them that the children are ill and won't be coming to school today. Say anything else and I won't hesitate to shoot." He held the gun low so that the children couldn't see it but Karen knew that it was aimed at her chest.

Karen made the call and the man took the phone from her hand. "Very good. You follow directions well." He dialed another number and handed the phone back to her. "This will be your office. Tell them that you won't be in today. If they need an explanation, tell them that the children are sick. If I hear you saw anything that sounds even vaguely like a duress code, I'll shoot you."

With the second call made, the man took the phone back and turned it off. He then handed Karen the keys. "Start the engine and back out of the driveway."

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"You'll find out when we get there," the man answered cryptically. He turned to Nikolai and Anya in the back seat. "Hello, my friends," he said in English. "You're not going to school today. We're going to take a little trip."

"We need to go to school to learn English," Nikolai said sharply.

Karen internally groaned at the defiance that she heard in the child's voice. He was strong willed and she hoped that the quality didn't work against him in this situation. Before she could say anything to quiet him, the Russian man spoke again.

"Where we're going you won't need to speak English." He then began speaking in Russian. Anya, who was not nearly so proficient in English, began chatting happily in her native language.

Karen assumed that this was all part of whatever plan the man had. He would quickly win Anya over and Nikolai would eventually follow. Now if she could just figure out what the end game was.

"Make a left at the next light, Ms. Hayes," the man said casually as if they were out for a sightseeing tour.

Karen glanced up into the rearview mirror. The black sedan was following a short distance behind. She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. The only way to get out of this was to stay calm and think it through. The problem here was that she not only needed to save herself, she needed to save the children as well. That eliminated a lot of possible plans. Instead she decided that it was time to talk to the Russian man. If she could get more information on what he wanted and why he wanted Anya and Nikolai, she would have a better chance to talk him out of it or at least distract him.

"I'm not sure what it is that you want, but if you'll tell me, maybe we can work something out," Karen started tentatively.

"It's very simple, Ms. Hayes. I want the children," he answered quietly.

"For what? What can you possibly want them for that justifies kidnapping?"

"They need to go back to Russia to grow up and live in their own culture, to be nurtured by fellow Russians. The Russian people need them."

Karen suddenly thought she knew what this was about. There had been a lot of controversy over the last few years regarding the adoption of Russian babies and children by Americans and other Westerners. Many Russians saw it as a slap in the face that they could not take care of their own needy children and those children were being farmed out to other countries. She suspected that the group who bombed the church was trying to disrupt the foreign adoptions and was now trying to take Anya and Nikolai back to Russia was part of this movement.

"Anya is five and Nikolai is eight. They're alone in the world and were living in an orphanage until a few weeks ago. If Russia needed them so badly, then a Russian couple should have stepped forward and adopted them along with all of the other children in that orphanage. Tell me, are you making sure that those children are being taken care of?"

"I care nothing for the other children in that orphanage. I care only for these two children. They will restore Russia to her former greatness," the man declared proudly. "They are the saviors of my country."

Karen once again found herself confused. Now she had no idea what the man was talking about. "They're children," she said again. "Why do you believe that they can save Russia?"

"They are the closest surviving relatives of Tsar Nicholas II. They are Romanovs."

Karen rolled her eyes now believing that the man was crazy. "You can't be serious. There are dozens of people in Russia who claim to be relatives of the Tsar. Why would you believe that Nikolai and Anya have any more right to the throne than any of the others?"

"DNA will trace Nikolai and Anya back to the Tsar himself. When the Tsar was just a teenager, he had an affair with one of the servant girls in the palace and she became pregnant. Of course it was a scandal and the girl was shipped off to the summer palace where she could have the child in relative secrecy. She was married off to one of the guards and they raised the child, a son that she named Alexander after Tsar Nicholas' father, as their own. Nikolai and Anya are the great-great grandchildren of Alexander."

"This is absurd," Karen said shaking her head in disbelief. "And what kind of proof do you have?"

"In addition to DNA, we have the birth certificates from Alexander and his children and grandchildren all the way down to Nikolai and Anya. And, we have the diary of the servant girl detailing the affair, the birth of her son and the money paid to her to ensure her silence."

Karen wasn't sure how to proceed. Now that she understood the man's logic, if you could call it that, for kidnapping Nikolai and Anya, she had to find a way to make him change his mind. She decided that showing empathy for his cause made the most sense.

"Okay, I understand now why you want Nikolai and Anya back in Russia. I can understand why the Royalists would want to rally around them. They embody the history of the Russian people, but still, I don't see how they can help you. There is no longer royalty in Russian. Tsars haven't ruled Russia in 90 years."

"But they will again. The Russian people are tired of their elected leaders. The Tsar will rise again. The Royalists will rally around Nikolai and Anya."

"I know that there is a small Royalist movement in Russia, but certainly not one capable of staging a coup and ousting the current government," Karen said trying to reason with him.

"It will happen. Over the next ten years, while Nikolai grows up and we prepare him to take over the reign, we will bring our case to the Russian people. It will be a slow process, but since our group has already waited for 90 years, another 10 years is nothing. We will show our people why we must return our royalty to their former position. That was a position granted by God and no man had the right to take it away from them. We will succeed. You will see." The man spoke passionately. He was clearly a fanatic but at the same time, he wasn't letting the emotion of the carry him away. He spoke clearly and succinctly without ranting.

Karen continued. "If you've known of Nikolai's and Anya's connection to the Romanovs, why did you wait so long to act?" Karen asked. "You've obviously researched this well. Why didn't you approach the children's parents prior to their deaths?"

"We tried, but the Borodins were fools. They knew of the family history and they chose to ignore it! Can you imagine? They knew their importance to the Russian people and yet they did nothing about it. Our group went to them several years ago and tried to talk some sense into them and they wouldn't hear it. We implored them to give their children the legacy that they deserved. We went to them again and again but they would not even let us in their door. Finally, we did what we had to in order to restore the monarchy."

Karen gasped. "You killed them! You staged the car accident so that you could get access to the children!"

"Sometimes blood must be spilled in order to evoke change," he said quietly. "I regret that the Borodins had to die. And I will regret killing you if it comes to that, but make no mistake, I am not afraid to kill you if I have to."

Karen was becoming more and more nervous now that she knew what this man was capable of. He spoke and interrupted her thoughts. "After the next traffic light, make a right into the third alley," he told her. "Once you're in the alley, pull over to the right next to the second building." They had driven into an industrial part of the city that Karen wasn't familiar with.

The Russian man pulled out a cell phone. "We're several blocks away. Do you have the car ready?" He listened for a moment and frowned. "You were supposed to meet us at ten o'clock. Get here as soon as possible. We can't wait long."

"Something wrong?" Karen asked.

"Nothing we can't handle. Just do as I told you. The traffic light is two blocks from here. After that, make a right into the third alley."

Karen looked back to judge the distance from the dark sedan tailing her. The space had widened and another car had slipped in between them. She looked up at the traffic light less than a block ahead of her. It had just turned yellow. She started to slow just as an idea crossed her mind. It was dangerous had probably had little chance of succeeding, but it was worth a try. Karen moved her foot from the brake to the accelerator and floored it entering the intersection just after the light turned red. Cars at the busy intersection screeched to a halt, but she avoided an accident and was now free of the car trailing her. The intersection was a major one and she hoped that the light would remain red for at least a couple of minutes.

"What are you doing?" the Russian man howled. "You could have killed us all."

"I'm sorry. I didn't see it. I'm nervous," Karen lied as she slowed down. She looked into her rearview mirror to make sure that the light was still red. Without indicating, she turned into the second alley instead of the third.

"This is the wrong alley!" the man screamed at her.

"I'm sorry. I'm nervous," Karen repeated. "I'll turn around." Karen eyed up the narrow alley and hoped this would work. "Hang on, kids," she said with a quick look to the back seat.

With that Karen jerked the wheel to the right and increased her speed. The passenger side of the car skidded against the rear wall of the warehouse on the right. The side airbags deployed on impact and Karen prayed that Anya, who was sitting on the passenger side, wouldn't be injured by them. Karen braced herself as the Russian man, who had not been belted in, was thrown across the front seat and into her. He seemed dazed but she was sure he wasn't badly hurt. Karen turned her attention to rescuing the children. They were both crying and Karen hoped fervently that they were just shaken up but unhurt. She released her seat belt with her right hand and while disengaging the automatic locks with her left and then jumped from the car.

As soon as she was out, she slammed the door behind her to slow the Russian man's attempt to follow her. His door was trapped against the warehouse wall, so his only way out was through the driver's side door. Karen pulled open the rear door and released Nikolai's seatbelt. She pulled him from the car and set him on the pavement. "Run, Nicky!" she shouted. "Run! Annie and I will be right behind you.

With that she reached across the back seat to extract the hysterical little girl from her booster seat. The child jumped without hesitation into Karen's arms. Karen could feel tears in her own eyes and she dragged the little girl across the seat and out of the car. "It's okay, baby," she whispered to try and calm the child. "I've got you. We'll be okay."

Anya wrapped both arms and legs around Karen obviously terrified. Karen knew that she couldn't run effectively with Anya virtually attached to her. She took a second to pry her off and set her down. "We have to run, honey," Karen told her while internally cursing herself for wearing high heels. "We have to run!"

Anya understood and began to run toward her brother. Karen ran alongside her and began looking for a hiding place. She knew that it would only be seconds before the Russian man was able to extract himself from the car and come after them. And soon after that, the car that had been tailing them would arrive. The thought had barely crossed her mind when she heard the footsteps from behind. Karen didn't look back but could hear that they were slow and irregular, as if the Russian man was injured and limping.

"Run faster!" she shouted to the children. She grabbed Anya's hand and increased their speed until she was nearly dragging the crying girl.

They were nearing the end of the long alley and Karen hoped desperately that they could get some help once they reached the street. At least she could attract some attention by calling for help. Her hopes were almost immediately dashed as the black sedan that had been following them turned into the alley effectively blocking their egress. Karen reached for both Nikolai and Anya and pulled them protectively into her arms. The action was natural, if only symbolic. Even with her mind racing, she knew that there was no way for her to protect the children now. She had failed and her heart ached.

Three armed men jumped from the car. The two that came from the backseat lowered their weapons and approached quickly. Each of them grabbed one of the children as the injured Russian man from Karen's car came up from behind and grabbed Karen. Karen tried to hang on to the children but the man holding her pulled her backwards and threw her to the ground.

It all seemed to be happening in slow motion and Karen felt as if she were watching it on a movie screen. She could hear herself begging the men to let go of Nikolai and Anya. The children were both fighting to get away; flailing and kicking in a futile attempt to extricate themselves. They were calling her name and imploring her to help them. She was trying to get away from her captor; trying to stand up and get to the children when she felt it. It was a searing pain in her chest that seemed to take all of the air out of her. It was followed by a second and this time she heard the gunshot.

The slow motion scene got even slower. Karen could hear that the children were crying harder; screaming her name incessantly. She saw the Russian man step over her, limp to the sedan and get in. The car began to move and Karen, no longer thinking logically, knew that her window of opportunity was closing fast. She dragged herself to her hands and knees and stood unsteadily. Barely able to breathe, she lunged at the moving car.

Karen hit the passenger side front fender of the car and was thrown across the hood. She was still conscious as she rolled off the other side and was thrown against the wall of the warehouse. The sedan skidded away as Karen crumpled to the alley fading into unconsciousness.


	3. The Investigation

Chapter 3: The Investigation

It was a quieter than usual morning at CTU. With the church bombing only three weeks prior, a ten person team, led by Nadia and Milo, continued to work up leads and beat the bushes looking for clues to the identity and motive of the bomber. The rest of Bill Buchanan's personnel had already gone back to their regular routine.

Bill was crossing the bullpen to review some new information with Nadia when Chloe stopped him. "Mr. Buchanan," she called. "Take a look at this."

"What is it, Chloe," Bill asked.

"I was updating the terrorist watch list and noticed that two Middle Eastern terrorists on the list were recently spotted in Europe. I notified Interpol. Do you want me to notify Homeland Security?"

"Yes," Bill answered. "They like to know when suspects get as close as Europe. Download the information and send it to them. I'll let Karen know to have her people review it. Good work, Chloe," Bill said as he withdrew his phone from his pocket and punched the speed dial.

Karen's phone rang four times before it was answered by her assistant. "Homeland Security, Jody Winslow speaking. May I help you?"

"Jody, it's Bill. How are things at Homeland this morning?"

"Apparently better than things at _your_ home!" Jody laughed.

Bill was silent for a moment. "I'm sorry. Did I miss something?" he asked clearly not understanding her joke.

"I just meant that with both Nikolai and Anya sick, things are probably not so good at your house right now," she explained.

"Nikolai and Anya sick? Jody, I don't know what you're talking about."

"Karen called this morning and said that she wouldn't be in because both of the children were sick. Didn't you know that?"

"Something must have happened after I left. They were both fine and eating breakfast when Elise and I left the house. I'm surprised that Karen didn't call me and let me know. When did she call you?"

"I guess it was about 30 or 40 minutes ago. I didn't take the call; Liz Morgan did. Do you want me to ask her?"

"That's okay. I'll call Karen myself. Thanks, Jody," Bill said and then disconnected. "That's strange," he said to no one in particular.

"Is something wrong, Mr. Buchanan?" asked Chloe who was able to overhear Bill's half of the conversation.

Bill dialed Karen cell phone and then looked toward Chloe. "I'm not sure," he answered. He waited for the call to go through and then frowned as it went straight to Karen's voice mail. "That's strange," he said again. "Karen doesn't usually turn her phone off."

Bill finally dialed their home phone and waited through four rings until the answering machine with his voice on it picked up. "Karen, if you're there, please pick up. Karen, are you there?" He waited thirty seconds or so and then impatiently hung up and dialed another number. This time he was calling the Russian church school.

"Good morning. St. Basil's school. How may I help you?" said the cheery voice on the other end.

"Mrs. Pakos," Bill started. "This is Bill Buchanan. I was just wondering if my wife dropped Nikolai and Anya off at school this morning."

"No, Mr. Buchanan. She called about a half hour ago and said that the children were sick and wouldn't be in school today," Mrs. Pakos said. "I was sorry to hear that they weren't feeling well. They're such delightful children," she added.

Bill thanked her for the information and set down his phone. "Chloe, is it possible for you to activate and locate the radio frequency tracker in Karen's car?

"I can, but it would take me a while. It's easier if I call LAPD. They have direct access to the computer. Do you want me to call?"

"No, I'll take care of it," Bill told her. He dialed his phone one more time and waited for an answer. "Jack, it's Bill. I need some help," Bill said not taking time to exchange pleasantries.

"What's going on, Bill?" Jack asked.

"I need you to activate the radio frequency tracker on Karen's car."

"Was it stolen?"

"I'm not sure," Bill admitted. "Karen was supposed to take the kids to school and then go to work. She called both places and said that the children were sick but I can't reach her. Both kids were fine before I left for work. Now I can't get in touch with her. I'm a little concerned."

"I'm sure there's a logical explanation," Jack said rather unconvincingly. "We'll activate the tracker and I'll get back to you as soon as I know something. Give me about ten minutes."

Bill repeatedly tried to call Karen as he paced the bullpen. Jack was right; there could be a logical explanation to Karen's behavior this morning, but for the life of him, he couldn't imagine what it was. His gut feeling told him that something was wrong and that Karen was in trouble. The always-in-control director suddenly felt very out of control. He knew every protocol in the CTU book and not one of them fit this situation. Realistically, Karen wasn't even a missing person at this point. Unless Jack turned up something when he tracked her car, Bill had nothing to go on.

Bill's phone rang. He glanced at the caller ID and saw that it was Jack. "Jack, what have you got for me?"

"We located Karen's car in an abandoned industrial complex in the city," Jack explained and gave Bill the address.

Bill reached for a piece of paper and noted the address. "Is it moving?"

"No, it's stationary."

"Karen wouldn't have any reason to be in that area."

"I know. I have a patrol car nearby. I've dispatched them to investigate."

"What's their ETA?"

"About seven minutes. I'll call you as soon as I have anything, Bill."

"Thanks," Bill barely whispered as he again disconnected. Now he knew that something was wrong. "Chloe, bring up satellite over this area," he said as he handed her the scrap of paper with the address on it.

Chloe closed the screen she was working on and brought up the satellite images. "Satellite imaging over this area isn't all that good," she commented. "Here's what I've got." She turned her monitor so Bill could see. "It's an old industrial park. There's not a lot of activity there."

"Can you identify a car?"

"There are a few cars in the area. I can't really tell one from another with this image. I can try and enhance it, but that will take a few minutes and I can't guarantee that I'll get a useful result."

"Try it," Bill said a little more forcefully than he intended. He could feel his heart pounding and his throat tightening. "Is there any chance you can back time it and check the images for the last half hour?"

"I can do that for you, Chloe," Morris answered from a nearby station.

"Thanks," she answered gratefully. She and Morris both stole a glance at their director. They had been through more than one national crisis with him and he rarely looked as afraid as he did at that moment.

Chloe was still in the process of enhancing the image when her phone range. "CTU, O'Brian," she said. She listened for a long moment, saying nothing. "Yeah, he's right here. I'll tell him. Thanks, Jack."

Every eye in the area was now on Chloe as she slowly set down the handset she was holding. "Maybe you should sit down, Mr. Buchanan," she said in her customarily blunt way.

Bill widened his stance and rested a hand on the top of a computer monitor as if to steady himself. "I don't need to sit down. Tell me what's going on."

"That was Jack. They found Ms. Hayes' car in an alley in the industrial park. It sideswiped the rear wall of a warehouse," she started.

"What about Karen and the children?"

"None of them was with the car. The patrolman found Ms. Hayes lying in the alley less than a hundred yards away. She's alive but unconscious. She's badly hurt, sir. They have an ambulance on the way. The ETA is less than three minutes. There's no sign of the children. I'm sorry, sir," Chloe added. "Jack said that he has officers on their way to the scene. They'll canvass the area for the children. Maybe they just ran off to get some help," she speculated.

"Jack doesn't believe that, does he?"

Chloe reluctantly shook her head. "He's putting out an APB on the children and he has a crime scene team on the way. He was hoping that you have pictures he can distribute to his men and to the media. He already activated the abducted child alert."

"I have a couple of pictures on my computer. Go ahead and retrieve them and forward them to Jack." Bill reached for a chair that seconds earlier he thought he had no need of. He dropped heavily into the chair, put his elbows on the desk and rested his face in his hands unable to fathom why all of this was happening. "What hospital are they taking Karen to?" he asked quietly.

"Jack didn't know. He'll call as soon as he has details. I'll make sure that security has a car ready to take you to the hospital as soon as we know."

"I don't understand this," Bill said shaking his head. "Why is this happening? This is personal. Someone wants to get to Karen or me and I have no idea who or why."

"Or maybe it's neither of you, sir," Chloe shrugged. "Maybe this is connected to the church bombing. Someone killed the couple that was going to adopt Nikolai and Anya. Maybe the bomb 

was meant to kill the children, too but it went off too early. Maybe whoever it was came back for them."

Bill sat up and shook his head. He was back in control. "If they wanted to kill Nikolai and Anya, why didn't they just kill them in the alley? They obviously tried to kill Karen. They want the children alive which means that we're going to hear from them. If they're keeping Nikolai and Anya alive, they are going to demand ransom. Track all of the incoming calls to my phones – my cell, my office, my home. I want to be ready when they call. And tell Curtis that I want someone to go to my daughter's school. I'll let them know that someone will be there to pick her up. If this is a personal vendetta against me, Elise may be in danger as well. I want her out of the line of fire."

While Chloe and Bill were talking, Morris answered a call. "I'll let him know, Jack," he said. "Mr. Buchanan, Jack said that the ambulance is on its way to UCLA Medical Center. Their trauma team is on alert. The ETA is ten minutes."

"Thanks, Morris. Call security and tell them I'm on my way. Have them meet me by the front door." Bill stood and started toward the conference room. He pulled open the door. "Nadia, I have to leave. You're in charge. I'm not sure when I'll be back. Chloe will fill you in," he called into the room. Without waiting for a response, Bill headed for the front door.

The 20 minute drive to the hospital seemed like an eternity to Bill. On the way, he called Elise's school and explained that a federal agent was picking her up. He didn't bother with details just asking the principal to tell Elise that Karen was being taken to the hospital and that he would explain everything when she arrived. He also called Karen's son, Jacob, a computer forensics specialist for the FBI in Washington.

Jake was the oldest of Karen's three children from her first marriage. He lived in northern Virginia, not far from Washington and, despite the geographic distance, enjoyed a close relationship with his mother and stepfather. Jake was immediately concerned when he heard Bill's voice. Bill would have no reason to call him in the middle of a business day, so he was prepared for the worst as Bill began to tell his stepson what little he knew. They talked for less than ten minutes when the CTU driver pulled up to the emergency room entrance. Bill stepped out of the car as he promised Jake that he would call him as soon as he had an update on Karen's condition. Jake offered to call his two younger siblings and break the news to them. Bill thanked him and hung up as he ran into the emergency room lobby. Jack was waiting at the entrance with two uniformed officers.

"How is she? What can you tell me?" Bill asked urgently.

"The doctors are with her now, Bill. A nurse told us that the doctor would be out as soon as they had some news," Jack explained in a mild voice. He angled his head toward the officers standing near him. "These are Officers Gray and Helmond. They found Karen."

Bill thanked them profusely. "Was she conscious at all? Could she tell you who did this?"

Officer Gray, the older of the two, spoke. He was probably just a few years short of retirement. His eyes were bright blue and his blond hair was buzz cut so short as to given an illusion that the hair was transparent. Gray had a Southern accent so thick Bill immediately wondered what he was doing in LA. "She was drifting in and out of consciousness while we waited for the ambulance, sir. She said a few words but nothing that made a lot of sense. She kept asking for 'Nicky' and 'Annie'. Commissioner Bauer confirmed that those are the children's names. We asked her if she knew her assailant. She didn't answer 'yes' or 'no'. She just kept saying 'Russian' and 'royal' or 'royalty' or something like that. I'm sorry, sir. We tried to keep her talking so that we could make some sense of what she was saying, but she drifted back off again."

"Thank you, Officer. I know you did what you could," Bill said. He turned to Jack. "Has the crime scene team turned up anything?"

"Not much, but they just started processing the scene," Jack said shaking his head. "I talked to the lead investigator a few minutes ago. From what she can tell, there was some sort of struggle in the alley about a hundred feet from Karen's car and about fifteen feet from where Karen was found. The crime scene found a broken necklace and a button and some torn clothing along with blood."

"Were there any witnesses?"

"We're talking to the neighboring businesses right now, but so far no one saw or heard anything. Believe me, Bill, LAPD is doing everything possible to find Nikolai and Anya and to apprehend the people who did this."

Bill nodded silently and ran his hand through his hair in frustration. He could feel tears forming in his eyes, but they didn't actually puddle and streak down his face until he heard Elise's voice behind him.

"Dad, what's going on?" she said frantically as she ran through the door with her federal agent escort in tow.

"Ellie!" Bill said pulling her into his arms and kissing her. He could feel her hugging him back. With all of the emotion running through him at the moment, it surprised him that the thought that went through his mind was how beautiful Elise was. She was tall and thin with long chestnut colored hair. Her eyes were crystal blue like his and her skin a smooth porcelain. She had been his entire world until he met Karen. Now the three of them were a family and Bill fought to suppress an intense hatred for whomever it was that threatened to end their happiness.

"Is Mom okay? What happened?" She looked at her father and then at Jack. "Commissioner Bauer, why are you here? Dad, what's going on?" Elise demanded.

Bill led his daughter to a nearby bench. The two sat down while Bill explained what little he knew. "So, now all we can do is wait," he said softly as he wiped tears from Elise's face.

"But she's going to be alright, isn't she?" Elise cried.

"I wish I knew," Bill said in return.

The two sat quietly, arms around each other and waited for more news. Jack, who had disappeared for a few minutes, returned carrying two coffees and a soda on a disposable cardboard tray from the hospital cafeteria. He set the tray on a nearby table and then handed one coffee to Bill and the soda to Elise. He picked up the second coffee and sat down several feet away.

It was a full half hour before the receptionist called Bill's name. She directed Bill and Elise to a private conference room across from the waiting room and told them the doctor would be in shortly.

"Bill," Jack said in a warm, soft voice. "I hate to even suggest this, but if Karen is at all conscious, we really need to talk to her. Please ask the doctor to give us a few minutes."

Bill nodded. His tone was soft like Jack's but much firmer. "I understand, Jack, but I won't do anything that puts Karen at risk. If the doctor says 'yes' then that's fine, but if he says 'no', I won't push him on it."

Jack looked like he wanted to say more but thought better of it. Both men were strong willed; they had butted heads on occasion in the past. There was no point in doing it now. "I understand," Jack said docilely.

Bill and Elise headed into the conference room and waited silently. Bill paced while Elise sat watching him take six measured steps in one direction, turn and repeat the process. The tension was so great that neither could think of a thing to say. It was still several minutes before a tall man wearing scrubs entered the room and introduced himself as Dr. Dyson, head of the trauma team. Bill guessed the doctor to be about fifty and immediately pegged his mood as pessimistic.

Bill sat down next to his daughter. "How is my wife doing, doctor?" Bill asked anxiously. As much as he wanted an answer, he also feared what the doctor might tell him.

"We're prepping her for surgery, Mr. Buchanan. Her condition is critical." The doctor stopped for a moment to let his words sink in. Elise slipped her hand into Bill's and he clenched it gently.

"What are the extent of her injuries?" Bill asked not really wanting to know.

Dr. Dyson sighed. "I would tell you that she was lucky, but I'm not sure that other people would agree with me. Your wife was shot twice: once in the left chest and once in the upper abdomen. The shot to the chest missed her heart by no more than a couple of inches, but it caused her lung to collapse. Right now she's having some difficulty breathing on her own, but so far we haven't had to use a ventilator. Fortunately, both gunshots missed any major arteries. If they hadn't she would have bled to death before anyone got to the scene."

Bill felt himself relax slightly. Obviously this wasn't good news, but it sounded as if it could have been worse. "So you're going to operate to remove the bullets and repair the damage."

"I wish it were that simple, Mr. Buchanan. The police tell me that your wife was likely trying to protect two children. It looks like in the process she was not only shot, but she was hit by the fleeing car. She has injuries consistent with a pedestrian who was struck by a vehicle."

Elise leaned into Bill and he put an arm around her. "What kind of injuries?"

The doctor shook his head. "We won't know the full extent of the internal injuries until we get her into surgery. We know from x-rays that she has a fractured pelvis and injuries to both legs. She also has a fractured cheekbone. Her head either hit the windshield or the hood of the car and as a result she has a concussion, but it doesn't look like a serious head injury."

Bill closed his eyes for a second trying to think and trying to figure out what he should ask next. "What are Karen's chances of recovery?"

"I don't like to give odds, Mr. Buchanan. What I can tell you is that your wife is in critical condition and all we can do is take one minute at a time. The first thing we have to do is get her through the surgery. If we get that far, she'll be moved to intensive care and we'll do everything we can to keep her alive. If we succeed in doing that, she's going to have a long recovery period. She'll certainly need physical therapy before she's up and walking again."

Bill nodded. He understood everything that the doctor was saying but felt as though he couldn't process it.

"I'd like to get her right into surgery. The sooner we do that, the better her chances are. I'll need you to sign the consent forms."

He handed Bill the forms and gave him a brief overview of what they said. It wasn't anything that Bill didn't know. The surgery carried its own risks but without it Karen would die. The doctor had set a pen next to the consent forms. Bill ignored it and took from his pocket the Montblonc pen that Karen had given him as a first anniversary gift. He signed and dated the form and handed it back to the doctor.

"Is there any chance that we can see her before you take her to surgery?" Bill asked. "The police officers at the scene said that she was drifting in and out of consciousness. I was hoping that she might be awake enough to talk for a minute."

The doctor smiled slightly. "That was a good try, Mr. Buchanan," he said. "The police have wanted to talk to your wife since she got here. They ran into the emergency room with the ambulance crew. I'm not sure exactly what happened here but it must be high profile because I've been told that the police commissioner is in the waiting room. I understand that your wife is from Homeland Security and that you work for a counter terrorist division of the CIA. Is there some kind of security threat or alert?"

"Not that we know of. We believe that this was an isolated incident that was meant to target either Karen or me. Our foster children were kidnapped in the process. We don't know why. I was hoping that Karen might be alert enough to give us some information."

"I'm willing to let you and your daughter talk to her for a few minutes while we make the final preparations for surgery. I don't want police in there harassing her. You can ask her any questions you want to ask but I'm pretty sure that you won't get anything meaningful out of her. She's saying a few words here and there but nothing we could string together to make a clear thought. She's asked for the children several times but other than that nothing that she's said has made sense."

"If it doesn't put her at any additional risk, I'd like to try and ask her some questions."

"I think that's reasonable. I'll give you about five minutes. Then I have to take her to the operating room." Dr. Dyson gestured to his left. "Follow me."

Dr. Dyson led Bill and Elise through the general emergency room and into the trauma center. Each cubicle was surrounded by a set of wide glass doors. A curtain in front of the door kept these terribly injured patients from suffering the indignity of having half-clothed bodies displayed to every visitor and employee that walked through the unit. Dr. Dyson stopped in front of one of the doors. "Give me a second, please," he said to Bill and Elise. He then leaned in the door, pushed the curtain an inch or two to one side and addressed two nurses who were hurriedly making final preparations for their trip to the operating room. "Shelby, Lydia, can you give the family five minutes with Ms. Hayes?"

The nurses finished what they were doing and left the cubicle. Bill hesitated for a moment and then grasped the curtain, moving it enough so that he and Elise could pass into the cubicle. Bill cringed as he first caught sight of his wife. Her face was bruised and swollen. Dried blood was caked in her hair. There were various cuts and scrapes visible on her face, neck and hands. Bill didn't even want to know what the rest of her looked like. Intravenous fluids dripped into her and a myriad of monitors kept track of her vital signs.

Elise gasped audibly as she neared the bed. "Oh, Dad!" she exclaimed quietly. She swayed slightly as if she was going to pass out. Bill grabbed her shoulders and turned her quickly against his body.

"It's okay, baby," he soothed her. "You don't have to look. You can wait for me outside."

"No," she told him firmly. "I want to talk to her. I want to let her know that I love her and that I'm here for her. If it were me, she wouldn't run away." The teenager steadied herself, took a deep breath, stood tall and turned back to face Karen. She slowly approached the near side of the bed.

Bill crossed to the other side of the bed and took gentle hold of Karen's hand. "Sweetheart, it's Bill. Elise and I are here, honey. Can you hear me?" He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it. 

Then he leaned down, brushed hair out of her face and kissed her forehead. "Honey, can you hear me?"

"Bill," Karen whispered without opening her eyes. Her breathing was shallow and labored. Bill knew that she would require the help of a ventilator to keep her breathing through the surgery.

"That's right, honey. Elise and I are here. Sweetheart, can you talk to us. Try and open your eyes."

Karen opened her left eye about half way. Her right eye was swollen shut. "Ellie?" she whispered.

Elise quickly found her voice. She closed her hand around Karen's. "I'm here, Mom. I'm on this side," she said squeezing her mother's hand. "I love you so much. You have to get better, Mom. Dad and I need you."

"Love you," Karen whispered back. Bill could tell that she was trying to move her head in Elise's direction but that it was just too much of a strain. She took several seconds to get her breath. "Nicky? Annie?" her weak voice raised at the end to create a question out of the words.

"LAPD is looking for them. We don't know where they are right now. Who did this to you, Karen?"

"Russian," she said cryptically.

"The person who did it was Russian?" Bill asked.

"Russian," Karen repeated.

"Did you recognize him?"

"No."

"Was there more than one person involved?"

"Yes."

"Who were they targeting? Was it you they were after?"

"Nicky. Annie."

Bill misunderstood. "Honey, we're looking for Nicky and Annie now. We'll find them. It would help us if you could tell me who was being targeted. Were they after you or me? If we know that it would narrow down the search."

"Nicky. They need Nicky." Karen stopped to breathe.

Bill's forehead furrowed in confusion. "Why would they want Nicky?" he asked as he racked his brain to figure out why Nikolai would have been specifically targeted. Some obscure thoughts of child slavery or pornography rings out of Russia quickly surfaced in Bill's mind. His stomach turned at the thought and he quickly voiced his concerns. "Karen, does this have anything to do with slavery or pornography?"

"No," she answered briefly. This time she also shook her head slightly to make her answer more adamant. "Need Nicky. Tsar. Royalist," she said as her voice faded.

"What did you say, sweetheart?" Bill leaned in close to hear her but was interrupted by Dr. Dyson's voice.

"Mr. Buchanan, we really have to go now. You and your daughter can go to the waiting room outside of the surgical suite on the second floor. I'll be out to talk to you as soon as the surgery is over."

Bill nodded and he squeezed Karen's hand a little tighter. "Sweetheart, Elise and I will be here when you get back." He kissed her forehead again; his eyes filled with tears. "I love you, Karen."

"No," Karen said firmly as she tried to return the squeeze on Bill's hand. "Nicky. Annie. Find them."

"We're doing everything we can, honey. Don't worry about it. Just relax and I'll see you soon."

Karen was becoming agitated. Her breathing became even faster; she was nearly panting. At the same time, she was struggling to cling to Bill's hand. "Close ports. Watch borders. Back to Russia."

"Mr. Buchanan, we _have_ to go now," Dr. Dyson said emphatically. Two nurses approached the bed and began to move it toward the door.

Bill continued to hold Karen's hand. He leaned over her trying to get more information. "Honey, are you trying to say that the kidnappers want to take Nikolai and Anya back to Russia?"

"Yes!" Karen said frantically. "To Russia. Find them."

The doctor was losing patience. "Mr. Buchanan, I don't know how to say this any more clearly. We have to take you wife now and you and your daughter need to go to the waiting room. If you don't cease and desist _now, _I will call security."

"I understand," Bill said raising his hands slightly in a gesture of defeat. He turned back to Karen. "I love you, honey. You just relax and I'll see you soon."

Elise said a tearful goodbye as well and then cried quietly against Bill's chest as Karen was whisked onto the nearby elevator and out of their sight. Bill wanted nothing more than to 

dissolve into tears but he knew that it served no purpose. Instead, he swallowed hard and got his emotions in check.

"Come on, sweetie," he said to Elise. "Your mother gave us some good information. I need to get that to Commissioner Bauer. It's going to help us find Nik and Annie."

Jack was pacing through the waiting room when Bill and Elise returned. His cell phone was pressed to his ear. "Keep me updated. I'll get back to you if I get any more information," he told the person on the other end. "How's Karen?" he asked as he ended his phone conversation.

"She's on her way to surgery. We won't know much more for the next few hours. She was able to talk to me a little bit. From what I could understand, Nikolai and Anya were kidnapped by a Russian. Karen didn't recognize him, but she seemed to think that he wasn't working alone and that Nik and Anya were the targets. I don't know why, but she was adamant. In fact, she specifically said that they wanted Nik. She also seemed convinced that they intended to take them back to Russia. She told me to close the ports and watch the borders. Did your officers say that Karen mentioned something about 'royalty'?"

Jack nodded. "Officer Gray said that she used the words 'royal' or 'royalty'."

"She said that again to me. I'm not sure what she's trying to tell me, but she was adamant that whoever did this wants to take Nikolai and Anya out of the country and back to Russia."

"I can put people at the Port of Los Angeles and at the local airports, but border crossings are out of my jurisdiction. We're going to have to move this to a federal level. If Karen's was sure about the Russian connection, we have to get Russian authorities involved as well. Do you feel up to dealing with the feds or should I take care of it?"

"You have enough to do with the local investigation. I'll call in the feds. It'll give me something to do. If I keep thinking about Karen I'm going to lose it," Bill admitted.

"Alright, if you think you can handle it, I'm fine with that. If you need help, call me."

Bill and Elise headed for the surgery waiting room. Elise sat down at a large table onto which someone had spread out a jigsaw puzzle. Bill was happy that she had something to occupy her mind while they waited for news. That also made Bill feel a little less guilty when he pulled out his phone and began making the requisite calls to the FBI and INS. There was no real reason to officially involve CTU, but Bill talked to Nadia and filled her in on all of the details. Implicit in the conversation was a directive for CTU to work under the radar of the other agencies. Nadia would involve only those people closest to Bill. They would have to manage their other work while quietly investigating this case as well. Bill also took the time to contact each of Karen's children to update them on her condition. All three of them were in the process of making arrangements to get to the West Coast as soon as possible.

An hour later and with his phone calls made, Bill finally stopped pacing and sat down in a chair near Elise. "Making any progress on the puzzle?" he asked. He picked up the top to the puzzle 

box and studied the picture. It was a group of cheetah cubs lounging on a grassy hill with their mother.

Elise shook her head. "None. I just can't concentrate. How much longer do you think Mom will be in surgery?"

Bill shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, honey. The doctor said that it could be several hours. All we can do is wait."

"I know," she answered. "I just wish it was over." Elise fell silent for a moment as she tried to fit a piece into the puzzle. "Have you talked to Commissioner Bauer recently? Are they any closer to finding Nikolai and Anya?"

"I haven't talked to him since he left the hospital. If he had anything new, he'd call me."

"Do you think the information Mom gave you will help to find them?"

"It wasn't much, but it was more that we had before you and I talked to her. I just wish I could put it all together and make sense of what she was saying. She knows exactly who has Nikolai and Anya and why they took them. I'm just hoping that she can talk more after the surgery." Bill said as he found a piece of the mother cheetah's ear and pressed it into place.

"Good one, Dad," Elise complimented him. "I've been looking for that piece for a while."

Bill looked up to respond and as he did, he caught sight of a tall figure coming down the hall. He stood and took a couple of steps toward the room's entrance as Father Gregory stepped across the threshold.

"Mr. Buchanan," he said taking Bill's hand warmly into his own. "The police came to see me a little while ago and told me what happened to your wife and the children. I'm so sorry for your trouble. How is your wife?"

"She's in surgery now. She was badly injured. We're just hoping for the best."

"Know that my prayers are with you," Father Gregory said kindly. "Any new information on the children?" His concern was genuine.

"Nothing yet," Bill said shaking his head.

"The police seem to think that this was done by a Russian. They asked if I knew anyone who might be involved, but I don't know of anyone who would have done such a terrible thing."

"Karen couldn't tell us much about the attack, but she told me that her assailant was Russian. A lot of what she said didn't make sense, but she seemed convinced that he intended to take the children back to Russia. She said that they 'need' Nikolai. I don't know what that means. She also used the words 'royalty' or 'royalist', I couldn't really tell which. And she made some 

reference to the Tsar. She was drifting in and out of consciousness. So, I couldn't get a clear idea of what she was trying to say."

Father Gregory cocked his head slightly to one side. "Did you say 'royalist'?"

"Yes," Bill nodded. "Does that mean something to you?"

"There's been a Royalist Movement in Russia ever since the Tsar was deposed."

"You mean a group of people who want to restore the imperial monarchy to Russian?"

"Exactly. It's a small movement, but some of them are pretty radical," Father Gregory said.

"Why would they be involved in this case?" Bill asked.

"I don't know," the priest admitted. "But someone bombed my church and killed the couple that was adopting Nikolai and Anya. Now someone has attacked your wife and taken the children. Maybe their intention was to take the children during the bombing but there was too much chaos to grab them," he speculated.

"Father, I don't understand. Are you suggesting that Nikolai and Anya have some ties to the Royalist Movement?"

"Mr. Buchanan, dozens of people have claimed a relationship to Tsar Nicholas II in an attempt to gain a following, to ignite a revolution that would overthrow the government and put them in power."

"This is ludicrous," Bill said in disbelief. "Nikolai doesn't even know who Tsar Nicholas II was let alone claim any relationship to him."

"Nikolai doesn't claim a relationship, but what if a radical royalist group believes that Nikolai is related to the Tsar. That makes him valuable to them. They could take him back to Russia and introduce him to like-minded people. They would slowly gain that following that I talked about. Over time, they could gain enough supporters and power to either have him elected to high office and then convert the government back to a monarchy or they could simply stage a coup. Nikolai would then be the Tsar – in name only, of course. The group that restored would his position would actually be in power."

"Do you have any reason to believe that Nikolai is related to the Romanov family?"

"I don't," he admitted. "But I'll be happy to talk to the priest at the orphanage where he and Anya were living. He might be able to provide some information."

"Father, if you would do that, it would be helpful. Is there an organized royalist movement in this country? "

"Not to my knowledge. Of course there are Russians in this country who are calling for a return of the monarchy, but if there is an organization in this country dedicated to that, I'm not aware of it."

"I'll have my staff check, but to my knowledge, there's no royalist group on our terrorist watch list. So if they exist, they aren't considered a threat to US security."

"That would make sense. These people mean no harm to any government outside of Russia." He looked at his watch. "It's getting late in Russia. I'll go home and make that call right away before Father Ivan goes to bed. Should I let you know what I find out or should I call the police?"

Bill reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a business card and a pen. "I'd appreciate it if you'd call me, but I want you to call this number first," he said as he jotted down a phone number on the back of the card. "This is a direct line to Police Commissioner Jack Bauer. I'll let him know what we discussed and that he should expect to hear from you."

Father Gregory seemed pleased that he could be of some help. "I hope this turns out to be helpful. In the meantime, try not to worry about the children. Now that we know what the kidnappers want, we know that they won't hurt Nikolai and Anya. They need the children to be healthy."

"I hope you're right, Father, but LAPD and the FBI still have to treat this as if the children's lives are in danger. Karen and I have fallen in love with Nikolai and Anya. I can't help but worry about them. Just knowing that they're scared and alone bothers me."

Father Gregory nodded and smiled. "I understand. I have to admit that I feel the same way. I'll be in touch, Mr. Buchanan."

Bill watched Father Gregory leave, then he quickly called Jack and let him know about his conversation with the priest. A second call to CTU brought Nadia up to date as well. She offered to contact the FBI, which Bill agreed to. He ended his conversation, put his phone back into his pocket and stared out the window trying to decide on the best course of action.

"Dad," Elise interrupted his thoughts. "Do you think Father Gregory is right? Do you think this group wants Nikolai to be the Tsar?"

"I don't know what to think. It seemed so far-fetched but at the same time, everything your mother said points to it. We just have to wait and see, honey," he whispered as he kissed the top of her head.

"I'm tired of waiting, Dad."

"Me, too, sweetheart. Me, too."


	4. The Resolution

Chapter 4: The Resolution

For Bill the next few days were a blur of hospital waiting rooms, phone calls, emotional ups and downs, bad coffee and little sleep. His daughter, Karen's children and other assorted friends and relatives were never far away; all helping each other through the angst filled hours. Complications from the gunshot wounds made Karen's first days after surgery tenuous, but by the third day she was beginning to show signs of improvement. Bill wished that he could say the same about the investigation into the children's kidnapping, which had reached a dead end. Now less nervous about Karen's recovery, Bill was able to worry about the children on a full time basis. As the days passed and the trail grew colder, he feared that finding two small children in a big world had become an impossible task.

Father Gregory spoke with his counterpart at the Russian orphanage and learned that there were some rumors from the village where Nikolai and Anya were born that the two were descended from the Tsar. The rumors had been written off as nonsense by all but some very old women and a few Royalist movement supporters. It wasn't much to go on but since they didn't have much to begin with, it was enough to focus the investigation on Royalist groups both within Russia and outside.

Despite a media blitz, few tips were called in and those that were led nowhere. It was as if the children had simply vanished. Bill both dreaded and couldn't wait for Karen to wake up. He knew that she would be devastated to learn that the children hadn't been found, but she was their only lead and the law enforcement agencies were desperate to talk to her. As Karen's condition improved, Bill couldn't help but notice that Jack kept in ever increasing contact with him. He called regularly and made excuses to stop by the hospital at least twice a day.

Bill was as anxious to get answers from Karen as Jack was, so when he walked into the intensive care unit one morning to find her awake and alert, he could barely contain his glee. She had been in the process of waking up the day before, but other than recognizing and vaguely acknowledging Bill, Elise and her three children, she had only said a few words. She had obviously made significant progress since he left the hospital only ten hours earlier.

Bill stood in the doorway and smiled. Karen's face was turned away from the door and she didn't see him come in, but the nurse did. She had taken care of Karen for the last two days and Bill had developed a good rapport with her. She winked at Bill and smiled. "You have a very handsome visitor, Ms. Hayes." she said. "I'll get out of here for a little while so you two can spend some time together."

Karen turned her head slowly and began to smile. She extended her hand so that Bill could grasp it. "Bill," she whispered.

"Good morning," he said softly trying to control an emotional quiver in his voice.

"I love you so much," Karen told him as her eyes filled with tears.

"I love you, too," he returned quietly as he kissed the less bruised side of her face and gave her a gentle hug taking care to avoid all of the intravenous lines and monitors and traction wires the surrounded her. "You look beautiful this morning," Bill told Karen as he wiped tears from her face.

"Hardly," she answered with a wry smile.

"To me you're beautiful." Bill lightly touched the swollen side of her face. His eyes were misty and he reached deep within himself to suppress an anger with Karen's attackers that was never far from the surface. It was an anger that was counterproductive at the moment, so he pushed it aside to concentrate on his wife. "The doctor said that once the swelling and the bruises go away, you'll be as gorgeous as ever."

Karen allowed a small laugh. "You need to have your eyes checked! I've never been gorgeous."

"My eyes are just fine. You just don't give yourself enough credit. I've always thought you were gorgeous. Even when you came to CTU to replace me, I still thought you were gorgeous," Bill teased. Despite it happening over three years earlier, their original meeting at CTU, with Karen sent from Homeland Security to take Bill's place, was still a source of amusement for both of them.

Bill turned his attention to more serious matters. "How are you feeling? Are you in any pain?"

Karen shrugged slightly and Bill could see her try and cover as she winced. "I'm okay".

"Now would you like to try telling me the truth?" Bill queried.

"Okay," she sighed. "Right now, my legs and hips hurt. The rest of me is just kind of achy unless I try to move and then everything else hurts, too. Does that confession make you feel any better?" Even as weak and tired as Karen was, Bill knew that it she hated to admit any vulnerability.

"No, it doesn't make me feel better, but you can ask for pain medication and that would make you feel better. I'll call your nurse."

"The nurse gave me something for pain about an hour ago and that took the edge off of it. I wanted to be awake when you got here, so I asked her just to give me a small dose. The drugs all make me so sleepy."

"That's not a bad thing. You need to rest."

"I know but I need to be awake some of the time, too. If I sleep all of the time you don't have to tell me everything that's going on. Like right now for example," Karen started. She paused for a long moment. Bill could hear a hint of annoyance in her voice and he had a pretty good idea what was coming next. He knew he had to face it but wished that he could find some way to avoid it. Karen finally continued. "You haven't mentioned Nikolai and Anya."

Bill remained silent and looked down.

"Where are they? What's the status of the investigation, Bill?"

He closed his eyes for a moment and then met Karen's gaze. "The trail's gone cold. We've got nothing. Karen, I don't know how much you remember about being attacked, but we need to talk about what happened. You're our only eyewitness, so your statement is important."

"Oh, Bill! They're still missing? It's been days. It's going to be almost impossible to find them now!" Karen began to cry.

"I know," Bill whispered. He sat on the edge of the bed and tried to console Karen. "But we aren't giving up. I'll have Jack send someone over from LAPD to take your statement. Maybe you'll be able to give us something that jump starts the investigation."

"Call Jack now. I'm ready to give him my statement." Karen said stoically.

Within an hour, Jack was at Karen's bedside to personally take her statement. She had good recall of the incident up until the time she was shot, but despite that, her statement did little to shed any light on the investigation.

Two more weeks passed and hope of finding the children had faded to nearly nothing. Karen's condition continued to improve. Her children were satisfied with her progress to the extent that they all returned to their lives on the East Coast with plans to visit again when their mother came home from the hospital. Bill went back to work and found himself constantly reviewing work that had been done on the children's kidnapping. He was becoming obsessed with the investigation and he knew that he had to stop.

It was Friday evening and Bill was, like he had been for almost three weeks now, sitting at Karen's bedside. Both Karen and Bill had encouraged Elise to go to a school dance that evening. They felt that she had spent an inordinate amount of time at the hospital and with Karen well out of danger at this point, they began pushing her gently to resume a more normal teenage life.

Karen was dozing quietly. It had been a long day for her. She had been awake and out of bed for longer than any day since she arrived at the hospital and had spent much of it in physical therapy in the arduous process and beginning to walk again. Tired and in pain from the physical therapy, she asked her nurse for pain medication. It didn't take long after receiving the drug for Karen to slip into a blissful sleep.

Bill watched her and smiled. He was happy to see her sleeping comfortably and recovering so well. He knew how hard she was pushing herself. Her doctor made the mistake of mentioning to Karen that if she made enough progress that he would let her go home within the week. She would need nursing care and twice daily physical therapy, but that care could be arranged.

While Karen slept, Bill sat in silence reading. The ringing of his phone started him.

"Buchanan," he said simply as he answered it. He stepped out of Karen's room and into the hallway in order not to disturb her sleep.

"Bill, it's Jack." Without waiting for a response from Bill, Jack launched into the purpose of the call. "LAPD just got a call from Border Patrol. About an hour ago, agents monitoring the border near the Arizona and New Mexico lines stopped two adult males trying to return from Mexico into the US. It started off as a simple stop, something about their visas not being in order, but the more the agents talked to them, the more they felt that something was wrong. The men are traveling with two children, a boy and a girl. The Border agents said that the ages are right, but they can't say with any certainty that the children are Nikolai and Anya. Hair color and style have been changed and the children claim not to speak any English."

Bill was now pacing excitedly. "Have Border Patrol send pictures and I'll identify the children."

"That's a problem. They're at a tiny outpost in the middle of nowhere. They've got limited communications. They've got a computer but no digital imaging equipment, or at least none that's working."

"Then we'll arrange for me to fly down there. I should be able to get a flight to the nearest military base and a helicopter right to their location at the border."

"We can do that," Jack agreed. "But at this point, the agents have nothing else to hold them on. They can't keep them any longer without pressing charges and they don't have enough evidence to do that."

Bill was now pacing frantically. He threw his free hand into the air in exasperation. "For God's sake, tell them to make something up! I'll be there in a couple of hours."

Jack responded calmly. "Bill, they've been doing that for the last two hours while they tried to identify the kids. Believe me, these agents are on our side. They want to find Nikolai and Anya as much as we do. The best they can offer right now is to make up enough excuses to hold them for another half hour to an hour. After that they're going to have to let them go. They'll arrange for local police to keep an eye on the car. They'll keep track of the car's location and police will make a traffic stop for any possible violation. In the meantime, we'll bring the FBI up to speed on this development. You can fly to New Mexico with the Special Agent in Charge of the case. Let me work out the details and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. Just make sure that you'll be ready to go on a couple of hours notice. I think that the FBI is going to be ready move on this pretty quickly."

"Will do," Bill responded. "I'll head home right now. I'll be ready to go in an hour, an hour and a half, at the most."

"Good. I'll talk to you soon."

Bill slipped his phone back into this pocket and returned to Karen's room. This was the break he had been hoping for. He leaned over Karen's bed and kissed her forehead gently. "Sweetheart," he whispered. He hated to wake her, but he wanted her to know what was going on.

"Hmmm" Karen breathed softly.

"Honey, wake up for a minute. I need to talk to you."

"What's wrong," Karen asked. Her eyes still weren't open and Bill knew from the slight smile crossing her face that she was still reacting to the effects of the morphine the nurse had given her earlier.

"Karen, I have to leave. Nik and Anya might have been spotted at a border crossing. I'm going to New Mexico with an FBI agent to try and identify them."

"I'd like to go with you but I'm too sleepy," Karen said with a slight giggle.

Bill couldn't help but smile as well. "That's fine, honey. You just sleep. I'll call you as soon as I have some news. I love you, Karen."

"I know," she said with a smile. "Love you."

Bill rolled his eyes as he left Karen's room. He left word with her nurse to call him when Karen woke up so that he could explain to her where he had gone and why. After that he made his way to the parking garage to retrieve his car. On the way home, he made arrangements with his sister, Jane, to pick Elise up from the school dance and look after her until he returned.

Jack called Bill about an hour later to tell him that a flight had been arranged for him. He would be flying with an FBI agent named Regina Daily. Bill knew Regina well. She had been an agent for over twenty years and they had worked together several times before. He was pleased when he first learned that the highly experienced agent had been assigned to the kidnapping case. The flight would leave at midnight. Bill filled the time by throwing a few articles of clothing and some toiletries into a duffel bag. He couldn't wait to get going. Every second he spent in LA seemed like another chance for the kidnappers to escape with Nikolai and Anya.

At midnight Bill boarded the airplane bound for New Mexico. He was physically and mentally exhausted and all he wanted to do was sleep, but it wasn't going to happen any time soon. Shortly after takeoff, he and Regina began receiving communication from the FBI and police agencies on the ground in New Mexico. Border Patrol had held the group in question as long as possible before releasing them to continue their travels. After that the local police were trying to keep an eye on the vehicle without being too conspicuous, which was difficult at midnight with few cars on the road. Any minor traffic violation would be enough for them to stop the car but, so far, that hadn't happened. After his encounter with Border Patrol, the driver of the car was being careful to obey all traffic rules and speed limits clearly understanding that he was being watched.

From what the FBI could piece together, it appeared that they had been in Mexico for several days. Bill suspected that they had crossed over into Mexico shortly after the kidnapping and holed up there hoping that the search for the children would die down. If that was the case, the kidnappers had calculated well. The search, which had met too many dead ends, was slowing despite Bill's insistence that it continue at a high level. If the kidnappers miscalculated, it was in assuming that they would cross back into the US unchecked. They had clearly met with more resistance than they had expected at a rural border crossing, but in the end they passed the border check and they were free to travel through the US to eventually leave the country through any one of the thousands of exit points. If the Royalist group that they belonged to had any financial wherewithal, they could easily route them back to Russia well under the radar of international police agencies.

Bill eventually got to spend some time talking to Border Patrol to get descriptions of the children. The agent assured Bill that they appeared to be healthy and well taken care of. They were both quiet and said very little. When they spoke it was in Russian and the boy denied understanding English, but the agent was sure that he understood at least some of the English conversation going on around him. They were extremely docile, the Border agent told Bill, and seemed dependent upon the adults they were with. This was especially true of the little boy. The girl, on the other hand, seemed more independent, even a little anxious.

Bill didn't like the sound of that. It sounded to him like the kidnappers had been able to win the children over to their side. He was concerned that part of the indoctrination included turning him and Karen into villains that the children now feared. What surprised him, however, was that it seemed that Nikolai had been won over more easily than Anya. Knowing firsthand the children's personalities, it seemed to him that it would have been the other way around. Karen had told Bill how happy Anya was when the kidnapper started speaking Russian to her. And even when he and Karen first met the children, it was Anya that was trusting and warmed up to them first. Nikolai, on the other hand, had been cautious about giving his affections to them. So the idea that he was being more controlled by the kidnappers than Anya left Bill wondering.

By the time the airplane reached New Mexico and Bill and Regina boarded a helicopter to get to the rural area through which the car in question was traveling, Bill had grown impatient with simply sitting around waiting for the kidnappers to make a mistake. He knew from experience that it might be the right way to handle the situation, but this time it was different for Bill. This time it was personal. He hated the kidnappers for what they had done to Karen and he hated them for taking away two children that he had quickly grown to love. While CTU Director Bill Buchanan had built a reputation in the CIA for his patience and ability to wait out a situation, husband and father Bill Buchanan refused to wait this one out. He wanted to take decisive action.

Discussions between Bill and his counterparts from the FBI and local police agencies became tense as Bill pressed them to be more aggressive. When a senior FBI official suggested that Bill should be removed from the case because it was so personal, Bill backed off slightly, but maintained his stance that they risked losing this opportunity by waiting for something to happen.

Tempers continued to flare as the sun slowly rose and lit up the New Mexico sky. The FBI day shift commander, Reed Devlin, arrived early and was briefed on the situation that had arisen over night. He got an update from the State Police who continued to track the car at a distance confirming that they had absolutely no reason to pull the car over. It didn't take Bill long to sense that the shift commander might be on his side. After listening to several points of view, Reed, a man approximately Bill's age with many years of experience, shook his head and set down his coffee mug.

"This is crazy!" he exclaimed. "We've been watching this car for the last eight hours. We need to find a reason to stop them."

"We don't have cause to stop them," the head of the State Police pointed out.

"We have two kids in the car whose welfare may be in danger. What other reason do we need?"

"Could I suggest a solution?" Bill interjected.

They both looked at him in silence.

"Set up a road block. We know what highway they're traveling on. Set up a road block and stop every car coming through. You can station me at the road block. All I have to do is see the children. If they really are Nikolai and Anya, then we arrest the two men. If not, the party travels on unimpeded."

"Yes, it's a workable plan, Bill, but it's not without its risks," Devlin said dubiously. "We have to assume these men are armed and they aren't afraid to fight for their cause. Look what they did to your wife."

"My wife was unarmed and posed no threat to them or to the children. She was an easy target. I'm not sure these guys are ready to go out in a blaze of glory, so to speak. They have a goal. They need to stay alive and they need to keep Nikolai and Anya alive if they want to achieve that goal."

"True enough, but if we corner them, there's no telling what they'll do. They may consider it worth their while to fight for the cause. They risk dying but if they don't fight and make an escape attempt, they have no chance of achieving their ultimate goal," responded the State Police Commander.

"Reed, you said it yourself. We can't just stand here and argue about it!" Bill said in frustration. "There is no completely safe and foolproof plan. We have to pick one, minimize the danger and move forward."

Reed Devlin sighed heavily. "I suppose you're right," he conceded. "Let's sit down with the team and develop a working plan. The road block is a reasonable starting point. We just have to work out the particulars. We've got about an hour before traffic really starts to pick up on those roads and makes this more difficult and more dangerous to pull off, so we don't have a lot of time."

The teams from the FBI and State Police sat down and within an hour worked out a relatively simple and reasonable plan. It took them another half hour to assemble and place the teams and backup agents on site. Bill was encouraged to stay in a staging area. It was a wooded tract several yards away. He wanted to be closer to the scene, but it wasn't a fight worth fighting. With a pair of binoculars, he could see well from the staging area and through the radio, he could hear everything that was said. Once the car had been safely stopped by State Police and the occupants out and secured, he would be allowed to approach and see the children.

Bill paced nervously around the staging area as State Police notified the FBI that the car in question was about fifteen miles away. He tried to calm himself by calling Karen to bring her up to date on all that had happened overnight. It was an emotional conversation with Karen warning Bill to be careful and, in the same breath, begging him to bring the children home safely. He ended the conversation as radio transmissions from the State Police confirmed that the vehicle was approaching the road block.

Bill listened to the radio with his heart pounding in his throat. The car stopped without incident and the driver rolled down the window to talk to the approaching officer.

"Thank you for stopping, sir," the officer started.

"What's the problem, officer," the driver asked. His thick Russian accent made him slightly difficult to understand over the radio, but his tone was mild and nonthreatening.

"We're looking for some missing persons. We have reason to believe that they're in this area." The officer turned his head to see into the back seat. "Are those your two children, sir?"

"Yes, officer," he returned. "We've been driving all night and they're tired. I'd like to get moving so that we can get to a hotel and get some rest."

"We'll have you on your way as soon as possible. I'll need to see identification for everyone in the car, sir."

Bill watched the car through high powered binoculars. The driver seemed calm as he sorted through a bag looking for the required identification. He moved his focus to the passenger. The man appeared to be watching the exchange between the driver and police officer warily. His gaze shifted nervously and he readjusted his position twice while Bill watched suggesting a nervousness that concerned Bill.

Bill reached for his radio. "Keep an eye on the passenger," he told the officers who could hear him through their earpieces. "He's squirming."

The officer on the passenger side of the car changed his position to make it a more defensive one without appearing threatening to the occupants of the car. At the same time, a second officer moved into a similarly defensive position.

When asked later, Bill really couldn't tell anyone what exactly happened next. It happened too fast. But before he knew it, the passenger had thrown open the car door and opened fire on the officers. And at some point, the driver had done the same. The return fire from those close to the car and the sharp shooters stationed in the brush was quick and unrepentant. By the time it stopped, two officers had minor wounds, but the driver lay dead. The passenger was conscious but seriously injured.

Bill raced to the car. As he reached the car door he saw two bullet holes in it. His stomach twisted in fear as he wrenched open the rear door. Anya and Nikolai lay across the back seat huddled and crying. Neither looked up when the car door opened; they simply clung to each other terrified by all that had happened.

"Anya. Nikolai," Bill said softly. "It's okay. You're safe." He spoke first in English and then in their more familiar Russian.

Anya looked up first. Even as well as he knew her, Bill barely recognized the little girl. Her long blond hair had been cut short and dyed dark brown. "Dad!" she squealed and proceeded to launch herself into Bill's waiting arms. She immediately began chattering in a rapid barrage of Russian.

"Slow down! Slow down!" Bill told her. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

Anya continued undaunted and Bill could make out little of what she was saying. He finally put together enough words that included the words "mom," "gun" and "dead" to realize that she was asking about Karen.

"She's okay. Mom's okay," Bill reassured her. "She was hurt, but she's getting better. She can't wait to see you."

With Anya still clinging to him, Bill leaned further into the car to check on Nikolai. His hair color hadn't been changed, but it had been buzz cut so that it was probably less than an inch long.

The little boy was on the other side of the car, huddled against the car door, his knees pulled up against his chest and his arms wrapped tightly around them. His eyes were cast downward.

"It's okay, Nik," Bill said warmly. "It's okay. You're safe now. I know you're scared, but it's over. Those men can't hurt you anymore."

Nikolai didn't respond at first. He turned his head and stared out the window. "Are they dead? Vladimir and Dmitry, are they dead?"

"One is dead," Bill said simply since he didn't know the men's names. "The driver is dead. The man in the passenger seat is hurt. They're taking care of him now."

Nikolai was again silent. Bill sat down on the car seat with Anya in his lap, but maintained his distance from Nikolai. The quarters were close and he didn't want the child to feel cornered. He slipped his hands under Anya's arms to help loosen her grip that was threatening to strangle him.

"Nik, they shot at police officers. _They_ shot first. The police had to defend themselves."

Nikolai nodded his understanding without looking at Bill. The air in the car felt thick with tension.

"Are you hungry? We can get you something to eat," Bill offered.

This time Nikolai shook his head sullenly. "Are you going to take us back to Los Angeles?"

"Yes, after you and Anya talk to the police and tell them everything that happened to you."

"I want to go back to Los Angeles," Anya chimed in happily. "I want to see Mom and Ellie."

"We'll go back to LA as soon as we can. Karen's waiting for us. She misses you two. She and Elise and I were very worried about you. We were afraid that we'd never see you again."

Nikolai started to cry. He finally looked at Bill. His voice trembled with fear and anger. "They said you were bad, that you bombed the church. Vladimir told me that. He said you bombed the church."

Bill's heart melted. Although he knew that the kidnappers would likely use this tactic, now knowing for sure that they had, made him incredibly sad. He loved both children and the thought that Nikolai now both hated and feared him, hurt deeply. "Nik, I know this is hard to understand, but they lied to you. _They_ bombed the church, Nik. _They_ killed the couple that was going to adopt you. Then they shot Karen and kidnapped you. This is all so complicated, but you have to believe me. Nik, you and Anya have lived with Karen and me for almost a month now and you've been happy, haven't you? You have to believe me when I say that neither of us would ever do anything to hurt you. We love you."

"No! Dmitry told me that I would be the king in Russia. He said you are Karen just wanted to keep me from ever becoming the king! Vladimir and Dmitry were going to take us back to Russia so that I could be the king." Nikolai told Bill defiantly.

Anya shook her head. "I didn't want to go to Russia even if I would be a princess. I told those men that I was _your_ princess and that's the only kind of princess I ever want to be."

Bill smiled and kissed her, but turned his attention back to Nikolai. His voice was quiet and calm.

"Nik, this is all so complicated, but I'm going to try and explain. Vladimir and Dmitry and the group that they belong to believe that you and Anya are distant relatives to the last Tsar of Russia. A tsar is like a king. We don't know for sure that you really are related to the Tsar, but even if you are, Russia isn't ruled by tsars any more. Vladimir and Dmitry's group wants to take over Russia. That would be very hard to do, but it would be easier if the people in Russia who are still loyal to the Tsar think they have a relative of the Tsar to run the government. Vladimir and Dmitry knew that you were too young to really run the government, so when they made you the Tsar, they would get to run the country. That was all they wanted. They wanted to be in charge. They were just using you in order to take over the country. Does that make sense?

"What they told you about Karen and me trying to keep you from going back to Russia to become king is a lie. We didn't even know that you could be related to the Tsar. The only thing we wanted was for you to be safe and happy and to find a good family to take care of you. I don't know what else to say to make you believe me, but that's the truth, Nik." Bill reached over to stroke the child's hair, but Nikolai flinched and Bill withdrew his hand.

Nikolai sat silently and stared out of the car windows as he tried to make sense of what was happening to him. He watched the police officers and people with "FBI" printed on their jackets work the scene while paramedics tended to Vladimir just a few feet away where he lay near the passenger side of the car. He could see that Vladimir was alert but had a bandage on his left shoulder and chest. The paramedics lifted him up onto a gurney and were about to put him in the ambulance. A police officer stood next to the gurney. Nikolai watched as the young officer turned to sign a piece of paper on a clipboard. As he turned, Vladimir sat up abruptly and grabbed the officer's gun from its holster.

"Gun!" one of the officers screamed.

The scene was chaos with law enforcement officers and paramedics diving for cover as Vladimir began firing. Bill, his attention now focused on Anya, who was resting contentedly in his arms, saw none of what had taken place. He started at the sound of the first shot.

"Get down!" Nikolai cried. He jumped up and threw his full body weight against Bill. Although small, Bill wasn't ready for the impact which sent both him and Anya sprawling across the seat. Bullets shattered his car windows and rained debris down on Bill and the children. Bill reacted quickly and pulled Nikolai and Anya close, shielding them with his body.

The shooting stopped as quickly as it started. A police sniper, who had been positioned in the brush along the road during the traffic stop and had begun to put his weapon away, quickly reassembled the weapon and got off two shots which hit Vladimir in the chest and killed him.

Bill clutched the children to his chest for a long moment after the gunfire stopped.

Regina Daily threw open the car door. "Bill, are you alright? Are any of you hit?"

"I'm okay, Regina," Bill said recovering from the shock. "Nik? Anya? Are you okay?"

"We've got medics right here," Regina told him. "We'll have the kids checked out."

A sobbing Anya clung to Bill as he tried to hand her over to Regina. He gently pried her arms from around his neck and looked her over quickly. "No blood," he told Regina. "You're safe, sweetheart. It's over," he said quietly to Anya as he kissed her face. She again locked her arms tightly around Bill's neck.

By that time, Nikolai was sitting up looking bewildered.

"Are you okay, Nik?" Bill asked as he took stock of the child. Again, he didn't see any blood. "Are you okay?" he repeated.

Slowly Nikolai nodded. "Vlad… Vladimir tried to kill us," he said. "He took the policeman's gun and he tried to kill us." The disbelief in his voice was evident. "I told me that he loved us and he'd take care of us. But he didn't. He shot right at us, Bill."

Bill said nothing but reached out with is free arm. Nikolai moved close and allowed Bill to hug him. It was a few seconds before Bill felt the hug returned.

"I'm sorry, Nik," Bill said quietly. "I know you wanted to believe him. I know you thought that Vladimir and Dmitry were telling you the truth. But it's all over now. We're going to go back to LA and Karen and I will take care of you until we find a nice family for you. Okay?"

Bill could feel Nikolai nod against his chest. Anya raised her head and put a small hand against Bill's cheek. "I don't want another family. I want you and Mom and Ellie. Why can't we live with you forever?"

Bill wasn't quite sure how to respond.

"You have a big house," Anya persisted. "And you have a yard for us to play in. And you love us. I want to stay with you forever."

Bill smiled, still unsure as to how to respond. "We'll talk about it later," he offered.

It was almost two hours before Bill, along with Nikolai and Anya, got back to the FBI field office. Bill knew that they still had to give statements and that it would be even longer before they could head back to LA. He was exhausted to his core but pushed any thoughts of rest from his tired brain. _It was worth it,_ he thought. He was as tired as he had ever been before in his life, but he had the children back and they were safe.

With that, he pulled out his phone to call Karen. He dialed the number to her hospital room. Elise answered the phone on the first ring.

"Hello." Bill could hear the anxiety in her voice.

"Hi, sweetheart," he said softly.

"Dad!" she exclaimed. "Are you alright? Do you have Nik and Annie? Are they okay?"

"Slow down!" Bill laughed. "I have Nik and Annie with me and we're all fine. We can't wait to get home to you."

"Oh, Dad! We were so worried."

"You can stop worrying. It's over and we're all fine. Is your mother awake?"

"Are you kidding? Do you think she could sleep with you out there with the FBI trying to track down kidnappers?" Bill smiled. His fifteen-year-old could be a little melodramatic at times. "She's dying to talk to you. When are you going to get home?"

"It'll be several hours. We still have a lot to take care of before we can get on the plane."

"I can't wait to see all of you. I love you and tell Nik and Annie that I love them, too."

"We all love you, too, Ellie."

"Here's Mom," Elise said as she passed the phone to Karen.

Karen took the phone from Elise. "Oh, Bill! Thank God you're all safe," Karen gushed. "From what I could hear on this end of the conversation, I take it that everything went well."

"Couldn't have been better," Bill lied.

"Oh, yeah," Karen said knowingly. "How many shots did you fire?"

"Not a single one," Bill said honestly.

"How many shots were fired around you?"

"More than enough," Bill conceded.

"And you three are completely safe? No graze wounds? Nothing that required medical care?"

"Nothing. Not a scratch on any of us. Karen, we're fine."

"How are the kids doing emotionally?"

"Anya's clingy and won't let me out of her sight. Nikolai doesn't quite know what to think. He trusted the Russians who kidnapped him and they told him a lot of lies about us. He's confused, but I think after he saw one of the Russians shoot at us that he knows they were feeding him a steady diet of lies. Knowing that and coping with it are two different things. They're going to need a lot of love and reassurance in the next few weeks."

"I've got plenty of both," Karen assured him. "And the good news is that I talked to the doctor today and he said that I'd be ready to go home this week. I'll need to have a nurse and a physical therapist come in every day, but that can be arranged. At least I'll be home. I've already talked to 

your mother and your sister, Jane. They're both willing to help out. Your mother is going to fly in from Phoenix as soon as she knows when I'm being discharged from the hospital."

"My mother and my sister are planning to help out?" Bill asked incredulously. "Tell me you're joking. They both make me crazy, Karen. I'd rather take a leave of absence from work for a few weeks and they can both stay home!"

"Bill," Karen admonished him quietly. "They mean well and they love us. They want to help. Let's just accept that. It gives us more time with Nik and Annie. You already said that they're going to need a lot of love."

"I guess so," Bill sighed. He loved his mother and sister but they both knew how to pluck his last nerve. "When you talk to my mother, tell her that she doesn't need to stay more than a week. We'll be fine after that." He glanced up from his conversation as one of the FBI agents walked into the room. "Honey, I have to go. You get some rest and we'll be home as soon as possible."

"Okay. I'll see you soon. I love you. Give the kids my love and tell them I can't wait to see them."

"I will. And I love you, too," Bill returned. "Oh, Karen," he said hoping to catch her before she disconnected. "Are you still there?"

"I'm here. What did you need?"

"Could you do a favor for me and call Father Gregory? He'll want to know that the kids are fine. We also need to know where we stand with regards to an adoptive family for the kids. They need some stability, now more than ever. They need to know that they have parents that they can count on."

"I'll call Father Gregory, but I don't think this is a good time to push the adoption issue. You just said that the kids need some stability. For now, they'll stay with us. When they get to a point where they can put this episode behind them, then they can be moved to their new family."

"It could be months before Nik and Anya can put all of this behind them. It wouldn't be fair to make them wait all of that time to move in with their new family."

"I disagree, Bill. I think we're providing all of the stability and emotional support they need right now, so why take them away from us now and put them into a position of having to learn to trust another family."

"Honey, I don't have time to talk about this now, we'll talk about it when I get home."

"Fine," Karen said.

Bill cringed when he heard the word slip from between her lips. How was it that women could use that word like a weapon? Four letters long and its impact on the man it was directed at was something akin to a knife plunged into his heart.

Karen continued. "We'll discuss it later, but for the record, I think you're wrong."

"Duly noted," Bill replied. "I've got to go. I'll let you know when to expect us."

Bill closed his phone and slipped it into his pocket. He then turned his attention to the FBI agent who needed his help getting statements from the children. Bill was happy to be busy. It took his mind off of his conversation with Karen. He had always known that she was going to have a hard time separating from the children when the time came to turn them over to their adoptive parents, but now she seemed interested in obstructing the process. That concerned him and he wasn't sure what to make of it.

As Bill had predicted, it was still several hours before they were able to finish all of the necessary paperwork and board the plane for the return trip to LA. Bill again called Karen to update her on their progress.

"So, I can expect you in about three hours?" she asked.

"By the time we land and drive to the hospital, it'll be more like four," Bill calculated.

"Have you or the kids gotten any rest?" Karen, back in her role as mother, asked.

"The kids have slept off and on. They're both sleeping right now on a sofa in the FBI office staff lounge. I haven't had a chance. I'll try to sleep on the plane." Bill could tell that Karen was trying to steer the conversation away from any subject of importance. He felt the need to bring her back on target. "Did you talk to Father Gregory?"

"Yes, a couple of hours ago. He was so thankful to hear that the children are safe."

"What did he say about finding a permanent home for Nik and Anya?"

"Nothing."

"Did you ask?"

"No, to be honest, Bill, I didn't ask. I didn't think it was the right time."

"When is it going to be the right time, Karen?" Bill asked in an exasperated tone.

"I don't know, but I know that _now_ is _not_ the right time. And Elise agrees with me," Karen added.

"The last I knew, Elise didn't make decisions about Nik and Anya. They're our responsibility, not hers. Don't bring Elise into this."

"Elise needs to be part of this discussion. Her input is important. This affects her life, too. Why are you making this so difficult, Bill?" Karen snapped.

"I'm not making it difficult, Karen. Do you think it's going to be easy for me to give up those kids? I'm trying to do what's right for them. They need a permanent home and they need it now. They need to feel safe and settled. Right now they're just being passed from pillar to post. It's time they had a real family and could start to put down real roots."

"Why can't they put down roots with us?" Karen asked tentatively.

"Say that again," Bill said as it he hadn't heard.

"You heard me! Why can't they stay with us permanently? Why can't we adopt them?"

"Karen, this isn't a subject you discuss over the phone."

"Why not? Admit it; you're just trying to avoid it. Tell me why we can't adopt Nikolai and Anya."

"For starters, we're too old. Aren't you tired of raising children? First you raised your own three kids, then we got married and you had to start all over again with Elise. Isn't that enough? Elise will be grown and out of the house in a few years. If we start again with Nik and Anya, we're taking on another fifteen year commitment. Do you really want to do that?"

Her voice became soft and gentle. "Yes, I do. Someone has to, Bill. Someone has to make that commitment. Someone has to love and raise those children. We already know that we love them. Let's go the extra step and raise them, too. Look at it this way, between us we've got a lot of experience. Let's put that experience to good use."

"Karen, I'm too old to be a father to kids that young. They deserve young parents."

"You don't look old when you're out in the yard playing ball with Nikolai. You look like every other father I've ever known who took his son out into the back yard and taught him how to catch a baseball. Bill, age is a mindset, not a number. You think and act young, that makes you perfect father material. Admit it, Nik and Annie make you happy. They make you laugh. You told me once that the biggest mistake Elise's mother ever made wasn't working with terrorists; it was not realizing how much it meant to love a child and have that love returned. Don't you think it would be a mistake for us to miss out on the chance to love Nik and Annie and have them return that love?"

Bill grew quiet. "Karen, I understand what you're saying, but I'm still not sure that it's the right thing to do. I'm not sure if it's right for Nik and Anya and I'm not sure if it's right for us. I need to think about this."

"Take your time," Karen said kindly. "Take all the time you need, but I think you're going to come to the same conclusion that I did."

"Honey, I've got to go now. We'll be home in a few hours and then we'll talk."

"Promise me that you'll think about it on the way home," Karen begged.

"I promise," Bill returned just to placate her. He intended to sleep on the way home. He didn't intend to think about anything especially not anything as serious as adopting two small children. "See you soon."

Bill disconnected and leaned against the wall behind him. Her words weighed heavily on his mind. He sighed deeply and pulled himself away from the thoughts. Instead, he strode into the staff lounge where Nikolai and Anya slept. He smiled as he watched them. After all they had been through, it amazed him that their little brains could just shut down and allow them to sleep so peacefully. He wondered if nightmares would come later. Post traumatic stress disorder was an insidious thing and the children were prime candidates for it. He and Karen would have to 

watch them closely. He made a mental note to make sure that the couple that adopted them knew the warning signs for the disorder and knew where to get help for them.

Bill hated to do so, but he knew that he needed to wake the children up. They would fly by helicopter back to the military base where their plane waited to take them back to LA. Anya barely woke up as Bill picked her up and carried her. Nik held Bill's hand sleepily and let himself be led to the helicopter. Like any eight-year-old boy, he brightened up when he realized that they were going to ride in it. After the short helicopter flight, they boarded the plane for the final phase of their journey.

Bill sat between Nikolai and Anya on the airplane. Anya lay across his lap while Nikolai rested against his side. Both were asleep soon after takeoff. Bill reclined his seat and put his head back. He wanted to close his eyes and get some sleep but he found that he couldn't stop staring at the children. The warmth of their bodies against him was comforting. He watched their little chests rise and fall with each breath. Anya sighed contentedly as she adjusted her position.

He tried not to think about it, but he couldn't stop. Karen was right. He loved them. They both loved them. And they loved them too much to turn them over to someone else, even if that couple was younger and better equipped to keep up with young children. Their love was deep and sustaining. It was mature and patient. It would see the children through the difficult days that Bill feared could be ahead of them. And it would see them through all that was good and bad in the future.

_Damn it, Karen!_ he thought with a smile. _Why are you always right? _There would be a lot of details to consider, but it would all work out. He knew that in the end, that they were destined to become a family. They were already a family, it just needed to be made legal.

Bill looked down as he felt Nikolai stretch and change position.

"When will we be home, Dad?" he asked.

Bill blinked back tears that instantly sprung into his eyes. Nik had never called him "Dad" before. He also never referred to the house Bill and Karen lived in as "home". And at that moment Bill knew that he had made the right decision. He was on his way home with his children.

Bill kissed the top of Nikolai's head. "In a couple of hours, son," he whispered. "Get some rest. We'll be home in a couple of hours."

_Thanks everyone for reading. Please take a second and send a review. I live for reviews (pathetic as that may seem, it is true). So I'll be waiting to hear from you!_


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